No. 60163 “Tornado” on her first rail tour of 2021 with The Pennie Explorer, running from Leicester to Carlisle. On the outward journey, headed north on the East Coast Main Line passing York, Durham and Darlington. Then following the route of Hadrian’s Wall as it criss-crosses the railway between Newcastle to Carlisle. The return journey wash via the world renowned Settle and Carlisle Railway, following the remote but scenic line through the Dales, traversing soaring viaducts and thundering through tunnels along this masterpiece of Victorian engineering.
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, a registered charity, built Peppercorn class A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado at its Darlington Locomotive Works. Fitted with additional water capacity and the latest railway safety electronics, Tornado is fully equipped for today’s main line railway. The A1 class was designed by Arthur H Peppercorn for the London & North Eastern Railway and 49 were built in 1948/49 by British Railways. However, following modernisation, all were scrapped by 1966. After 18 years of construction and fundraising the £3 million locomotive was completed in August 2008, the first main line steam locomotive to be built for the UK since 1961.