Following a hopeful start to last week, with a warming fire lit, it has become apparent that we no longer have the time required to confidently meet our August bank holiday heritage line commitments and operate reliably.

We had hoped to expedite the running in process by having a boiler inspector visit the engine at the end of last week. However, despite provisional agreement, it did not prove possible. The relevant inspections are now booked for this week. The engine has today been in steam, with pressure raised to the full 250psi.
 

In effect, with the necessity to cool the engine before travel, this left no time for meaningful mileage accumulation before moving to the Nene Valley Railway (NVR), leaving no contingency time to address any potential minor issues that may arise. This risked last minute disappointment for the NVR and its visitors; something we did not wish to occur.

Therefore, in conjunction with NVR, difficult decisions have been made to prioritise Tornado’s running in closer to our engineering resources in Loughborough and move our Nene Valley Railway visit to an extended period in October. In so doing, we are able to recover 4 working days into the programme that would have been blocked for transport and thereby expedite the locomotives return to the main line.

We are sorry to disappoint those who had planned on seeing Tornado over the bank holiday weekend but hope that they will join us at the NVR this October half term. Tickets are available at nvr.org.uk 

Following work on the injectors last week, static steam tests are now underway at the Great Central Railway (GCR). Engineering Director, Ben McDonald, and Operations Manager, Huw Parker, were both with the engineering team at Loughborough into the weekend, testing the atomisers, turbo generators, air pump and other auxiliary systems which require steam pressure. 

Once Tornado is signed off by the boiler inspector this week, the locomotive will commence mileage accumulation at the GCR, including running at up to 60mph. After a short period of running in and testing, the engine will then move to Tyseley Locomotive Works as a base for main line testing in the first half of September.