Post by Dave on Jul 27, 2015 17:49:22 GMT
Tornado NO 60163 Hits Paignton on the 26th July 2015
I’m not a train spotter but have always taken the view in life, each to their own. We all enjoy different things and should be allowed to just get on and enjoy what ever it is that gives us pleasure. I have enjoyed so many walks along disused railway lines that once those great steam trains ran on.
I remember as a very young boy being walked from Buckland into Newton Abbot town centre and loved standing on the bridge over the railway line as a steam engine went under it.
There is something special about old steam engines and we are very lucky to have two great lines running steam trains in this area. I have been on both lines and really enjoyed the feeling of stepping back in time. Going through a tunnel with you head stuck out the window as the smoke and steam fill the tunnel is all apart of the fun.
I had planned to go to the Totnes show, but the rain kept on falling and I did not fancy being knee deep in mud in some field. The headline on the online Herald Express stated “ Tornado hits Torbay” really I never thought the wind was that bad over the weekend. I then opened up the link and read the full story and so learned it was a steam train called Tornado that was coming to the Bay.
The train came down from Bristol and arrived at Kingswear around lunchtime. It was due to leave Kingswear at 16.45pm, stopping at Paignton station then leaving there at 17.30pm on its was back up to Bristol.
I went down o the station nice and early and wondered where all the train spotters were, but they soon came filling up both platforms. I knew nothing about Tornado NO 60163 and just thought it must have been an old steam train brought back to life. How wrong I was and speaking to someone on the platform, I was not alone thinking what I did.
In she came and camera’s started shooting and videos were being made, she is a big engine and I could not believe how many carriages she was pulling. She stopped at the end of the platform and stood for a while, then from her front steam came pouring out and the noise was deafening. I have stood close to a number of steam trains over the years and never heard one make as much noise as the Tornado did.
The barriers came down on Torbay Road and she slowly pulled out of the station, it seemed forever before the final carriage went over the crossing, it really was that long.
For those interested
The 60163 Tornado is a mainline steam locomotive built in Darlington, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom sinceEvening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways in 1960. It is the only example of an LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotive in existence, the entirety of the original production batch having been scrapped without preservation. The locomotive's namesake is the Panavia Tornado, a combat aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force.
Construction of Tornado began in 1994, and was based at Darlington Works for most of the project, while numerous components such as the boiler were manufactured elsewhere. The project was financed through fundraising initiatives such as public donations and sponsorship deals; further funding came from hiring out Tornado itself for special rail services. Construction was completed in 2008, and full certification of the locomotive was achieved in January 2009. Having been designed with compliance to modern safety and certification standards, Tornado has been conducting passenger services on the UK rail network and on mainline-connected heritage railways since 2008.
I’m not a train spotter but have always taken the view in life, each to their own. We all enjoy different things and should be allowed to just get on and enjoy what ever it is that gives us pleasure. I have enjoyed so many walks along disused railway lines that once those great steam trains ran on.
I remember as a very young boy being walked from Buckland into Newton Abbot town centre and loved standing on the bridge over the railway line as a steam engine went under it.
There is something special about old steam engines and we are very lucky to have two great lines running steam trains in this area. I have been on both lines and really enjoyed the feeling of stepping back in time. Going through a tunnel with you head stuck out the window as the smoke and steam fill the tunnel is all apart of the fun.
I had planned to go to the Totnes show, but the rain kept on falling and I did not fancy being knee deep in mud in some field. The headline on the online Herald Express stated “ Tornado hits Torbay” really I never thought the wind was that bad over the weekend. I then opened up the link and read the full story and so learned it was a steam train called Tornado that was coming to the Bay.
The train came down from Bristol and arrived at Kingswear around lunchtime. It was due to leave Kingswear at 16.45pm, stopping at Paignton station then leaving there at 17.30pm on its was back up to Bristol.
I went down o the station nice and early and wondered where all the train spotters were, but they soon came filling up both platforms. I knew nothing about Tornado NO 60163 and just thought it must have been an old steam train brought back to life. How wrong I was and speaking to someone on the platform, I was not alone thinking what I did.
In she came and camera’s started shooting and videos were being made, she is a big engine and I could not believe how many carriages she was pulling. She stopped at the end of the platform and stood for a while, then from her front steam came pouring out and the noise was deafening. I have stood close to a number of steam trains over the years and never heard one make as much noise as the Tornado did.
The barriers came down on Torbay Road and she slowly pulled out of the station, it seemed forever before the final carriage went over the crossing, it really was that long.
For those interested
The 60163 Tornado is a mainline steam locomotive built in Darlington, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom sinceEvening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways in 1960. It is the only example of an LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotive in existence, the entirety of the original production batch having been scrapped without preservation. The locomotive's namesake is the Panavia Tornado, a combat aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force.
Construction of Tornado began in 1994, and was based at Darlington Works for most of the project, while numerous components such as the boiler were manufactured elsewhere. The project was financed through fundraising initiatives such as public donations and sponsorship deals; further funding came from hiring out Tornado itself for special rail services. Construction was completed in 2008, and full certification of the locomotive was achieved in January 2009. Having been designed with compliance to modern safety and certification standards, Tornado has been conducting passenger services on the UK rail network and on mainline-connected heritage railways since 2008.