A1 Steam Locomotive Trust

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Supporting members of the association look at the locomotive during the annual meeting in 2004. The association chairman Mark Allatt explains the current work.
A large part of the current board of directors in front of the boiler that has just been delivered near the Darlington Locomotive Works in July 2006.

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a British club, consisting of donations a steam locomotive type LNER Class A1 Peppercorn built and operates.

history

In 1990 a group of business people who were also railway fans met. They decided to build an LNER class A1 Peppercorn steam locomotive from scratch. The locomotive , the fiftieth of its series, was to be given the number 60163 and the name Tornado. The project was launched publicly in November 1990 at a meeting at the York Railway Institute. Further presentations in London and Edinburgh followed .

A nationwide management team has been put together consisting of engineers, tax consultants, lawyers, bank employees, marketing specialists and members of other appropriate professions. They provide time and expertise on a voluntary basis. The association created a reputation for being a professional organization. He received support from specialists, experts and railway fans from all areas of life.

The association is supported by a six-person team of technical advisors made up of current and former railway employees.

Honorary members of the association include President Dorothy Mather (widow of the designer of the LNER class A1 Peppercorn, Mr. Arthur H. Peppercorn ) and Vice-President Peter Townend, former manager of the railway depot at Kings Cross station in London. His work brought him into constant contact with the locomotives while the LNER class A1 Peppercorn was in operation.

The 60163 Tornado was completed in 2008 and moved on July 31, 2008 for the first time on its own.

After the successful replica of the "Tornado", the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust decided on a replica of the LNER class P2 , the most powerful British express steam locomotive ever built. The P2 Steam Locomotive Company (P2SLC) was founded as a subsidiary for this purpose . The cost is estimated at around £ 5 million . Around 70% of the components of the P2 are identical to the A1, so that the experience gained there can be used.

In May 2014, frame construction began at Tata Steel Works in Scunthorpe . The construction time is estimated at around seven years. In March 2015, a third of the required funds had already been received. In honor of Charles, Prince of Wales , who supported the construction of the A1 "Tornado", the P2 will be named "Prince of Wales" in 2007.

Locomotive 60 163 Tornado

The name Tornado for 60163 was because of a partnership with the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) is selected, the combat aircraft of type Panavia Tornado operates. The name was chosen by a sponsor who donated the sum of £ 50,000. The 60163 Tornado was on historic ground in the Hopetown Carriage Works , a former wagon factory of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in Darlington built. The former LNER repair shop in Darlington is only a few hundred meters away.

The 60163 Tornado is the first standard gauge steam locomotive built in Great Britain since 1960. In contrast to the original series, the 60163 Tornado is capable of moving lighter trains with ten to eleven passenger coaches at higher speeds. This enables the locomotive to blend in better with modern traffic . The locomotive can on the main lines of Network Rail and museum railways are used. The vehicle has many differences from the original locomotives. The reason for this are the changed production processes and the consideration of improvements which, in the opinion of the association, would probably have been made on the relatively new series. The 60163 Tornado was built by Locomotive Construction Co Ltd. built, a subsidiary of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. The locomotive has been in service since 2009. Before that, she performed her acceptance runs, test runs at high speed and passenger services on the double-track line operated by the private museum railway company Great Central Railway (GCR) .

The 60163 Tornado moved in July 2008 for the first time under its own power and was 19 August 2008 on the road to the track of the museum railway company Great Central Railway (GCR) in Loughborough transported. Since the approval for main lines and a further transport on the road, the locomotive has been used in front of special trains on the main line since 2009 . There she is expected to recoup the remaining £ 800,000 debt on the project. In total, the project cost £ 3,000,000. Rail traffic With a train with eleven wagons  - comparable to the use of the historic A1 - the tornado is supposed to temporarily reach the necessary speed for main lines. Its theoretical maximum speed is 100 mph (= 161 km / h ), but in practice it is limited to 90 mph (= 144.8 km / h).

Milestones of the Tornado project

Side view of the tornado
Name tag of the tornado
  • 1990 - Formal establishment of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust (November 11)
  • 1994 - Presentation of the first and last components of the Tornado (a pin of the running bogie and a nut of the governor)
  • 1994 - Start of the construction phase (rolling the frame sheets in Scunthorpe ) on April 22nd
  • 1995 - Presentation of the name tags of the tornado by officers of the RAF in the Tyseley Locomotive Works during the ceremony on the occasion of the framework ceremony (January)
  • 1995 - First casting of a wheel
  • 1996 - The three cylinders of the Tornado are unveiled in Tyseley (May 25)
  • 1997 - The frame of Tornado is exhibited in the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum in York (March)
  • 1997 - Unveiling of the Tornado in Hope Town .
  • 1999 - Completion of the smoke chamber door , the symbolic face of the tornado .
  • 2000 - Tornado is more than 50% complete (summer)
  • 2000 - The wheelset is assembled (autumn)
  • 2004 - The book value of Tornado components reaches £ 1 million .
  • 2004 - first synchronous, smooth movement of the wheels (August 25)
  • 2007 - the boiler and fire box are fitted into the frame (June)
  • 2008 - Tornado is under steam for the first time (January)
  • 2008 - completion of the tender (February)
  • 2008 - Tornado moves on its own for the first time (July)
  • 2008 - Transported to the Great Central Railway for 60 mph test runs

construction

drawings

Structure of the tender, 2007

The approximate dimensions for the construction of the tornado were determined by measuring the LNER Peppercorn Class A2 Blue Peter at the National Railway Museum (NRM). Since there were no more drawings of the general structure of an A1, a drawing of an A2 was used.

Many of the original drawings used at the Doncaster Works for the A1 Peppercorn Class are preserved in the NRM. A team of volunteers spent three days collecting these in the fall of 1991. The originals on linen were scanned into CAD because the microfilm copies of the NRM could not be used for construction purposes. About 95% of the original drawings were found. By 1993, 1,100 of them had been scanned, and by 2001 a further 140. Few originals in poor condition had to be redrawn.

An updated specification sheet was required to record the requirements for material that was now out of date and comments on drawings whose meaning could not be determined. Other details of the construction were ascertained through discussions with Arthur Peppercorn 's former assistant, JF Harrison.

Technical features of the replica

The construction was - where necessary - revised in order to use more modern production methods and to be able to operate on today's main routes . However, care was taken to implement most of the original construction. The new 60163 Tornado is equipped with air brakes for the locomotive itself for operation on modern main lines . The historic A1 Peppercorn locomotives were equipped with vapor brakes. The 60163 Tornado was also equipped with a suction air brake in order to be able to run trains on museum railway lines . The original locomotives were equipped with the Automatic Warning System (AWS) suitable for the British Rail's suction air brakes. The 60163 Tornado also requires the new Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS). In addition, the locomotive to operate on is route network from Network Rail (the current owner and operator of the rail network in the UK ) with a data recorder and train radio equipped. The electrical system of the locomotive is more powerful than that of its historical predecessor due to the larger number of electrical consumers. The 60163 Tornado is slightly lower than the historic locomotives. The driver's cab roof, the safety valves, the steam dome and the chimney had to be adapted to the current clearance profile. The amount was about 1 inch (= 2.54 cm reduced) to the requirements of the overhead line provisions of Network Rail to match. The steam dome and the fastenings of the safety valves were redesigned and the profile of the driver's cab and chimney redefined.

The inside of the tender of the Tornado was redesigned in order to be able to forego water absorption during the journey. The water scoop was removed, the water capacity increased from 5,000 gallons (= 22,700 liters ) to 6,000 gallons (= 27,240 liters) and the coal capacity reduced from 9 to 7.3 tons .

The new tender was entirely welded in the Ian Howitt workshop in Crofton, Yorkshire . There it was equipped with spoked wheels. These were also present on the tenders of three historic A1 Peppercorns. The tender's axles, wheels and tires were completed between March and May 2007.

The boiler was built in Germany in the Meiningen steam locomotive works of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) and delivered to Darlington on July 16, 2006 . The boiler's safety valves were tested in the LNER class A4 Union of South Africa on the Severn Valley Railway . Both pumps for the compressed air brake were also manufactured at the Meiningen steam locomotive works and delivered to Darlington together with the boiler. The boiler cladding was installed in January 2007. All parts of the locomotive frame that are no longer accessible after the boiler has been assembled were painted in May 2007. By the end of October 2006, 80% of the mechanical components existed, including the material that had already been completed but not yet assembled. The wheel sets were balanced from May 2007.

Electrics in the driver's cab

The following changes were made to the design for cost and operational reasons:

In addition, the following design changes have been made to meet current safety and operational standards:

Advances in manufacturing made it possible to electronically cut the locomotive frame from a piece of steel. The frame of the original A1 was made from two parts and riveted together. Presumably it is the locomotive frame with the lowest manufacturing tolerances that has ever been manufactured.

rear running axle

Roller bearings were used despite the higher cost. This was a result of the reliability they had shown in tests with the original A1. However, they created an unforeseen problem with the design changes in 2003. The tests were documented for the tender, but not for the rear axle of the locomotive.

tender

1991 was riveted tender for Doncaster -type preferred as used in the built in Doncaster A1. The replacement LNER class tender A3 4472 Flying Scotsman was acquired, but later returned unused. As a result, the Tornado remained a completely new locomotive. In 2002 it was decided that a sleek, fully welded tender was appropriate for an A1 built in Darlington and would simplify construction and maintenance. In 2003 it was decided that a second tender for the tornado was not necessary. As before, the tender was to have at least three historic LNER Peppercorn A1 spoked wheels .

boiler

Meiningen steam locomotive works , 2005

The reflections on boiler began in late 1998. Since the 1960s not been standard gauge - boiler in the UK longer being built, at least not for such a large locomotive. The boiler is based on the original LNER Diagram 118 construction, but also takes current safety standards into account. The Trust could not find a suitable UK supplier with the necessary design and manufacturing expertise. This resulted in several design changes to the boiler by the Trust. These included the cost-saving welded constructions of the fire box and boiler compared to riveted variants, the use of steel instead of copper for the fire box and the reduction in height in order to meet the requirements for operation on electrified lines.

At the beginning of 2002, Deutsche Bahn AG, as the owner of the Meiningen steam locomotive works, was selected as the supplier. The necessary know-how was available there, since steam operations were carried out at the Deutsche Reichsbahn until the mid-1980s and 70% of the work in the steam locomotive sector is still carried out. The necessary rolling machines are also available there. For financial reasons, the trust was only able to place the order in January 2005. On July 16, 2006, the boiler was delivered to Darlington after its shipment and unloaded by a 200-ton crane. The construction time was only nine months.

The construction

The original LNER plants in Doncaster and Darlington were largely self-sufficient. There is no longer a comparable locomotive plant in Great Britain. In contrast, the construction of the tornado had to rely on a large number of suppliers in different locations. Several suppliers were needed to build components such as the cylinders. In the spring of 1992 it was announced that the Trust would build the Tornado in the UK. Previously, different countries such as B. Poland in conversation. However, it was necessary to have various parts manufactured abroad.

Tornado on the grounds of the Hopetown Carriage Works

Most of the assembly work took place at the A1 Trust's Darlington Locomotive Works . These are located in the Hopetown Carriage Works in Darlington , just a stone's throw from the Darlington Works . An initial agreement with the Doncaster parish council failed. Therefore, it was decided to start construction at the Tyseley Locomotive Works . The ceremony to mark the start of construction took place there on January 5, 1995.

The drive components cost £ 150,000, of which £ 50,000 was forging and £ 100,000 machining. It took three years to complete. It took five years to manufacture the UK's first wheelset since 1960. Nine subcontractors were involved in the manufacture, which despite generous sponsorships cost £ 100,000.

1995-2000

Actual design and construction began in 1994 with the casting of the cylinders and wheels and the construction of the cab before the Hopetown Carriage Works opened. In addition, the locomotive frame was completed in the Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham by October 1996 .

In March 1997, Tornado was exhibited as a complete frame and inner cylinder in the Great Hall of the NRM in York for several weeks. The transport of Tyseley was a freight car of the EWS carried out. The locomotive then returned to Tyseley until the Hopetown Carriage Works were completed .

The various components of the Tornado were brought together in one place after the opening of the Hopetown Carriage Works in 1997. At the opening event, the uncovered locomotive, which now consisted of the locomotive frame, the three cylinders and the driver's cab, could be seen.

In spring 1998 the construction of the smoke chamber and the assembly of the wheel tires began . In 1999, the forging work began on the connecting rods . The first parts were delivered in January 2000.

2000-2005

Tornado is waiting for a boiler in 2002

By September 1999 the last wheel was mounted on the wheel sets, which was delivered to Hopetown in July 2000. In January 2000 the front running bogie was installed. With the adaptation of these parts, the frame could be mounted on the wheelset. At the end of 2000, at first glance, only the tender and boiler were missing.

In the new millennium, the assembly of the drive rods continued, with the focus on the construction of the boiler. A call for donations of £ 250,000 has been launched for this important component.

The locomotive was a rolling chassis in October 2002 . The first synchronous run of the drive and the wheels was carried out in August 2004.

2005 until today

From October 16, 2005 the boiler was designed in Germany and delivered on schedule on July 16, 2006. By July 2007, the interior of the tornado was complete. The boiler could be placed on the frame with a 100 ton crane. The complex casting of the superheater began in 2007.

Due to space problems in Hopetown, the frame and structure of the tender were built outside. The superstructure was made in Darlington. The tender's frame and wheelset were merged in December 2007. The tank was assembled in February 2008.

Admission

"No. 2195 Darlington 2008"

Approval for a newly built locomotive is considerably more complex than for a restored historic locomotive. This required cooperation with Railtrack , Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) and Vehicle Acceptance Body (VAB). The origin of all construction documents had to be documented. Every aspect of the manufacturing process had to be recorded. After assembly, a technical file and a Notified Body certificate were issued for the completion of the production and the review of the maintenance processes.

The Tornado has to comply with the European Railway Interoperability and Safety Directive of 2006, which is achieved by complying with the National Notified Technical Rules (former Railway Group Standards ). The Tornado is as excluding many steam locomotives for mainline of parts of the regulations, including the obligation of a yellow signal area of the forehead or crumple zones belongs.

A strategy for the procedure was agreed in cooperation with Network Rail . Approval for operation was issued by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). This happened in two stages. The first stage was the approval under the Railway and Other Transport Systems regulations for traffic on the GCR and other museum railways. The second stage was the release as an interoperable locomotive for traffic on the route network of the British main lines.

Commissioning and test drives

Tornado on the test track in Hopetown, August 8, 2008

A computer simulation was used to set the valves and the drive . The safety valves were tested on the LNER Class A4 Union of South Africa on the Severn Valley Railway before they were delivered to the Meiningen steam locomotive works for assembly on the boiler.

On July 10, 2006, the boiler passed the manufacturer's pressure test with 1.5 times the working pressure. On January 11, 2008, the boiler passed its first steam test at pressures up to 260 psi . The test manager described it as a very fast boiler, well suited for use on main routes.

Low-speed tests were carried out on the locomotive on July 30, 2008, initially on specially laid tracks on the Hopetown site. The official commissioning took place on August 2nd and 3rd, 2008.

From Hopetown, the tornado was transported to the Great Central Railway route for several months to complete approval runs, high-speed tests and passenger runs until the winter of 2008. The locomotive was then weighed in Derby and approved for travel on main lines from the National Railway Museum in York. The tornado was also painted in the NRM . She then returned to the Great Central Railway.

The tests continued until the first full coat of paint was applied to a rimmed chimney. Then the Tornado was equipped with an authentic rimless chimney.

On August 1, 2008, the locomotive ran under its own steam for the first time. Under the watchful eye of a curious crowd and the news media, she moved back and forth on the Darlington Locomotive Works' experimental siding . Dorothy Mather, the widow of the designer of the historic A1 Arthur Peppercorn , was in the driver's cab and officially opened the trials for steam operation with the new A1.

The locomotive was christened by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla .

With a train consisting of 11 wagons  - comparable to the range of uses of the historic A1 - the tornado temporarily reached the necessary speed for main routes during approval runs . The theoretical maximum speed of the Tornado is 100 mph (= 161 km / h ), but the maximum speed is limited to 90 mph (= 144.8 km / h) during normal operation.

commitment

Since the approval for main lines, the locomotive has been used in front of special trains on main lines since 2009 . There she should also recoup the remaining liabilities of the project. In total, the project cost £ 3,000,000. The locomotive should be in continuous operation on main lines after 10 years of use until the new boiler is required .

In April 2009, traveled Tornado in "Gear Race to the North," the British TV show Top Gear in a race against a Jaguar XK120 and a motorcycle type Vincent Black Shadow from London to Edinburgh . Jeremy Clarkson , one of the presenters of the show, drove in the driver's cab of the tornado.

In the meantime it became clear that major repairs to the locomotive's fire box are necessary. The scope of the work was larger than had been assumed during the planning of the maintenance planned for winter 2010/2011. During the work, several hundred studs had to be replaced and several cracks removed. The exact scope of the work was agreed by the technicians of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust with the steam locomotive works of Deutsche Bahn in Meiningen. Out of a total of 2,000 studs , only a small number of damage was discovered. In order to avoid further unplanned work during the 2011 driving season, however, a larger number of them were replaced. In the first half of January 2011, the boiler was separated from the locomotive frame in the National Railway Museum in York and transported by road and by ferry to the Meiningen steam locomotive works in Germany. According to the Trust, the manufacturer has the best knowledge of a boiler and fire box of this type and the resources to be able to carry out the repairs in good time. The chairman of the trust intended to get the locomotive operational again for mainline operations by the end of April 2011. In May 2011 the locomotive was actually tested and in June 2011 it was approved for operation on main lines again.

In February 2017, it was the first steam locomotive in 50 years to return to scheduled service for 12 trips on the Settle – Carlisle railway between Appleby and Skipton .

Paintwork

The tornado was tested in a gray primer until all experimental work was completed. This served as a precaution so that the boiler cladding would not have to be dismantled again after the tests. The first complete painting was carried out in the LNER color for passenger express trains Apple Green with the inscription 'BRITISH RAILWAYS' on the tender. Within the first ten years of the boiler inspection period, it is planned to paint the locomotive in BR blue (before 1957) and BR Brunswick Green (after 1957).

financing

Fundraiser

A volunteer on the project is preparing Tornado for operation

Since the start of the project in 1990, the Trust has been using donation certificates under the slogan 'build a main line loco for the price of a pint of beer a week!' (for example: "Building a mainline locomotive for the price of half a liter of beer a week!"). Donors can wear a special A1 trust tie and pay a fixed amount per month by standing order . For this they are mentioned in the roll of honor , are given preference at events and sightseeing and receive the regular publications of the Trust as well as the right to participate in the annual meetings.

In September 1996, the concept of sponsors was launched. It has since been renamed Dedicated Donations . These are one-off payments of £ 25,000 to £ 25,000 to sponsor a specific component. Like normal donors, the donors receive recognition and a design drawing of the component they financed.

In October 1999 a call for donations of £ 250,000 was launched for the boiler to turn the frame with wheels, smoke chamber and driver's cab into a complete looking locomotive. When the tornado began to look like a locomotive in the fall of 2000 after the frames and wheelsets “got married”, the results of the fundraising campaign broke all records. Hundreds of new sponsors could be won in two months. By 2005 the Trust had donated £ 1,500,000.

The completion of the boiler could be achieved by half a million pounds, which could be raised by the issue of shares. After securing funding for the boiler, a single donation of £ 200,000 enabled construction of the tender to begin.

As of May 2008, £ 2.5 million had been donated. Nevertheless, the gap grew to the total of £ 3,000,000 needed to complete the locomotive. The economic boom in China led to higher raw material costs . The rising licensing costs made a renewed appeal for donations necessary in order to obtain approval for main routes by September 2008.

The sponsorship

The A1 Trust headboard. "51 A" was the code for the engine shed in Darlington

In 1994 the Trust won its first major sponsor, a large steel manufacturer. In 1997, the operator was East Coast mainline , the railway company Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to a sponsor and equipped the station in Darlington from for an event. In addition, GNER offered free travel for the trust's employees. In the spring of 1998 Rolls-Royce could be won as a supporter. The main sponsor of the trust is the metal foundry, which cast the drive wheels on "very favorable terms". Later the company helped with all of the wheels and almost all other steel casting work. The tender was sponsored by William Cook cast products .

Notable savings were achieved through sponsorship from industry . In 1998 the cost was 40% of the normal cost. Some components such as B. the smoke chamber door were manufactured free of charge.

literature

  • Allatt, Mark: Tornado: countdown to steaming! . In: Heritage Railway . 107, 2008 Jan 18-14 Feb, pp 24-31.
  • Ingall, Tom: Tornado - Extraordinary Dreams . Ian Allan Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7110-3543-0 .
  • Nolan, Debbie + Streeter, Tony: The Tornado story . The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, 2009.
  • Smith, Geoff: The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust - Tornado - New Peppercorn Class A1, 2008 onwards - Owners' Workshop Manual . Haynes Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84425-989-2 .

Web links

Commons : 60163 Tornado  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Completed and moves in steam for the first time
  2. ↑ P2SLC: Mission / Introduction , accessed on April 12, 2015
  3. ↑ BBC News: Prince of Wales P2 steam locomotive construction starts , May 21, 2014 , accessed April 12, 2015
  4. ^ The Northern Echo: Third of funds raised for multi-million pound steam engine project. March 21, 2015 , accessed April 12, 2015
  5. ↑ a b c d The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 1, April 2008, page 16
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 1, April 2008, page 17
  7. ^ The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 1, April 2008, page 15
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 31
  9. ↑ a b c d e f The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 34
  10. ↑ a b c d e The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 1, April 2008, page 18
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 1, April 2008, page 19
  12. ↑ a b c The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 32
  13. ^ The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 28
  14. ↑ a b c d e f The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 35
  15. ^ TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall name Tornado
  16. ^ Travel with Tornado
  17. ↑ a b Tornado hauls the Cathedrals Express at speed near Offord during the Top Gear race to Edinburgh
  18. ↑ Tornado's boiler - an update , a1steam.com on January 12, 2011
  19. ^ News from the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust from May 17, 2011 and June 9, 2011
  20. ↑ Helen Pidd, Full steam ahead as Tornado engine powers Settle-Carlisle train service , in: The Guardian, February 14, 2017, accessed February 14, 2017
  21. ^ A b The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 29
  22. ^ The Railway Magazine, The Tornado Story Part 2, May 2008, page 33