LNER Peppercorn Class A1
60163 Tornado in August 2008 prior to the Hopetown Carriage Works
The LNER Class A1 Peppercorn is a British steam locomotive series from the period after the Second World War. It was built according to the design of the last Chief Designer of the London and North Eastern Railway ( LNER ) Peppercorn Arthur Henry.
History
It is an evolution of the LNER Class A1 of his predecessor Edward Thompson. The series had the wheel arrangement 2'C1 ' h3 ( German ) / 4-6-2 (English) and was powered with three cylinders. In the chimney system, it was decided for the type double Kylchap. The new series was ordered by the LNER and after the nationalization of private railway companies in the works of the LNER in Doncaster and Darlington for British Railways (BR ) built from 1948 to 1949.
Originally known as the LNER Class A1 locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley of you had renamed at this time already in class A10. The locomotives were designed to meet the heaviest passenger trains of the postwar period on the route London - York - Newcastle - Edinburgh - Aberdeen at the UK's East Coast ( East Coast Main Line) to be grown. These usually consisted of trains up to 15 cars and up to 550 tons. The locomotives of this class were thus able to drive at a speed of 95-110 km / h (60-70 mph) on level ground. Other famous steam locomotives that operated on the main routes of the British east coast, remained intact. Here are some of Sir Nigel Gresley designed locomotives, such as six belong to the class of A4 LNER ( including the record locomotive Mallard ) and the " Flying Scotsman " the LNER Class A1. The built 49 locomotives of the Class A1 Peppercorn were, however, scrapped as a result of modernization and Verdieselungspläne the 1950s into the 1960s, after only 14 years. This finally happened in 1966 with the No. 60145 St. Mungo as the last locomotive of its class.
Locomotive 60163 Tornado
This led to the creation of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust by British railway fans in 1990 with the aim to build 60163 Tornado as the 50th in their class locomotive from scratch. The 60163 Tornado is the first standard gauge steam locomotive, which was built in the UK since 1960. Deviating from the original series, the 60163 Tornado is able to carry lighter trains with ten to eleven coaches with higher speed. Thus, the engine can fit better into the modern traffic. The locomotive can be used on the main lines of Network Rail and museum railways. It has many differences from the original locomotives. The reason is the change in production processes and the consideration of improvements that would probably have been made to the relatively new series. 60163 Tornado was developed by the Locomotive Construction Co Ltd. built, a subsidiary of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. The locomotive was baptized by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.
With a train consisting of eleven wagons - comparable to the range of uses of the historic A1 - reached the tornado in licensing runs temporarily the necessary speed for main lines. The theoretical maximum speed of the tornado is 100 mph ( = 161 km / h ), the speed limit is, however, in normal operation at 90 mph ( = 144.8 km / h ) limits.
Since its approval for main lines, 2009, the vehicle is operated special trains on main lines. There they will recoup the remaining liabilities of the project again. Overall, the project cost £ 3,000,000. Tornado should be up to the required re-registration of the boiler after ten years of continuous use on main lines in operation. Meanwhile, however, major repairs to the firebox of the locomotive were necessary. When working in the Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works had to be replaced several hundred studs and more cracks are eliminated by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB). The Chairman of the Trust intended to obtain the locomotive until end of April 2011 for use again for operation on main lines. In May 2011, were actually carried out with the engine test runs, and in June 2011 it was again approved for operation on main lines.