Tornado set to strike at the Great Central Railway!

rorz101uk · Post by **rorz101uk** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:40 pm

Hey lads

The railway had an AGM for the shareholdes and there is a special Loco coming to the railway here is the Press release

Tornado set to strike at the Great Central Railway!

Britain's first new mainline steam engine to be built in 50 years
will have a mainline home right from the moment it turns it's first
wheel!

In a major announcement, the Loughborough based heritage line and The
A1 Steam Locomotive Trust have joined forces for a deal which will
see 60163, 'Tornado', heading to Loughborough for commissioning, high
speed testing and passenger work.

'We're thrilled to bits,' said Tony Sparks, chairman of the
GCR, 'We'll be offering support to the A1 Trust who will be testing
the engine on our double track at 60mph! The engine will stay with us
for several months for trials and we'll be the first place you can
sample the performance of this newly built engine. This Tornado is a
storm every railway enthusiast is looking forward to!'

Tornado is now a little over two years from completion. The last
important component, the boiler, is being built in Germany. News that
the tender has found a sponsor makes a steaming date of November 2007
possible provided that an additional Â£370,000 can be raised in the
meantime.

Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, Mark Allatt said, 'Right
from Tornado's first streaming she'll be a mainline engine!
Announcing this tie-up with the Great Central is very exciting for us
and hopefully will inspire our supporters to help us finance the last
push to complete the loco. The GCR is known as a centre of
engineering excellence and will be able to give us all the right
technical support we need through those first steamings and gives us
a venue in the heart of the UK for 60163's first trains. We've been
able to work out a good deal which benefits the trust and the railway'

With Britannia Class engine, No 70013, Oliver Cromwell also scheduled
for completion around the same time that 'Tornado' is first steamed,
Christmas 2007 could be a very special time to be around the Great
Central Railway. 'We're humbled that the Trust has chosen to work
with us,' added Tony, 'It's more than a feather in our cap - it's an
investment of trust in the future of the railway.'

Text of GCR Press Release
David Pladgeman

rwaceyw · Post by **rwaceyw** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:50 pm

I'd like to see 70013 and 60163 ready for 2007......

David

davvydo · Post by **davvydo** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:49 pm

they are on about basing it at the NYMR but i would love to see it on the GCR too, going at 60mph !

kirkheath · Post by **kirkheath** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:11 pm

rwaceyw wrote: 70013

isn't that oliver cromwell??

kieranhardy · Post by **kieranhardy** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:14 pm

Kirkheath wrote:isnt that oliver cromwell??

yes it is
would they allow tornado at 60 mph on the great central???? i would have thought the route is a bit too short for 60.....

rwaceyw · Post by **rwaceyw** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:17 pm

kirkheath wrote:
rwaceyw wrote: 70013
isn't that oliver cromwell??

Well done

David

trainlover123 · Post by **trainlover123** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:17 pm

Erm, Rory, they can turn the wheels already, but I see what you mean

salopiangrowler · Post by **salopiangrowler** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 9:25 pm

kieranhardy wrote:
Kirkheath wrote:isnt that oliver cromwell??
yes it is
would they allow tornado at 60 mph on the great central???? i would have thought the route is a bit too short for 60.....

you obviously havent read any steam magazines then as 6233 was tested at 60mph there a couple of years ago and one of the GCR 20's have had air brakes fitted to make it duel braked for mainline use was double headed with the other 20 + about 15 windcutter wagons and thrashed up at 60 mph to test the engine thoroghly and of course the airbrakes.

rwaceyw · Post by **rwaceyw** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:06 pm

Don't think 6233 ever went to the GCR......I know 34027 was tested at 60mph, but the first over 25 run the Duchess did was mainline.

David

kirkheath · Post by **kirkheath** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:09 pm

WOW if tronado does reach 60 at least she will get to stretch her legs
make sure she her warm ups 1st so she doesn't pull any muscles

calvert · Post by **calvert** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:02 pm

kieranhardy wrote: i would have thought the route is a bit too short for 60.....

Tis' around 10 miles long!

salopiangrowler · Post by **salopiangrowler** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:59 pm

kirkheath wrote:WOW if tronado does reach 60 at least she will get to stretch her legs
make sure she her warm ups 1st so she doesn't pull any muscles

i dont think so, she is a brand new kettle they will test her like they tested all LNER loco's, you do the crack expresses first then the locals at retiring age.

Tornados booked down for a 90mph certificate on the mainline.

dinmore · Post by **dinmore** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:43 pm

I've heard the 90 mph rumour also and persoanlly think it's rediculous. I'm aware that the bid for 90mph is in the hope of gaining extra pathing availability but there are quite a few downsides. Firstly, to maintain a constant 90 mph from any steam engine is quite some feat both for the footplate crew and the engine itself, increased wear and tear on the loco at those sort of speeds will be quite high, as will the possibiltiy of overheating bearings. To stand a chance of maintaining that kind of speed they will surely have to run with a much reduced load, do you really think she would manage a near constant 90 with 11/12 on? let alone stop the thing within modern brake performance requirements. This then throws up further problems, reducing the number of coaches inevitably reduces the possible number of bums on seats, which then to be able to pay the huge costs that are involved with running a mainline charter train will put the ticket price up. To give a slight idea of the cost, when Tyseley loco works did an evening test run a few months ago from Tyseley to Stratford + rtn. network rail charged close to Â£3000 just for the privellege of using there metals, and thats only for an approx. 40 mile round trip. If you then add the cost of hiring the stock, the loco and the train operating company, water stops and charges for every station you wish to stop at and very sizable sums of money quickly mount up. If you put the ticket price up by too much that may well reduce the number of people willing to stump up the cash to travel leaving you in something approaching a vicious circle! Next thing you know you need too increase the number of passengers to make the trip viable thus increasing the load and reducing the possible speed probably back to 75mph! These are just my opinions so as I quite often do I may well be talking a steaming pile of c**p

tigermon · Post by **tigermon** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:35 pm

This is a Super Steam Loco in A1 Guise, not an A1 through and through, basically is a 2005 Steam Locomotive built with an A1's skin, she'll easily reach 90mph with a full rake of Coaches from a standing start, unlike many other steam loco's.

dinmore · Post by **dinmore** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:27 pm

Quote from A1 trust website " Regulary loaded with 15 coaches the locomotives were capable of achieving 60-70mph *on level track.* However, the asset of Tornado will be the abillity to haul lighter loads 10-11 coaches at higher speeds to fit in with modern traffic patterns"

Fair enough but would losing 4 coaches really make a 20-30mph difference? The boiler is pretty much of the same design, as are the cylinders, wheels etc. so where will the extra umph come from? (just a question, not haivng a go

)
Also of interest was this quote " 9 tons of coal should give about 350 miles range" Seeing that they intend to do this kind of long distance run non-stop with there increased water capacity, 350 miles at 90mph would be close to a four hour journey, the fireman would need to shift 2 1/4 ton of coal an hour, I would not like to be that fireman