A1’s Easter Nene Valley visit pushed back to May

WHILE the overhaul of Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado has experienced setbacks, and is now on the final straight, the remaining jobs have taken longer than envisaged and its Easter appearance on the Nene Valley Railway has had to be rescheduled.

The start of March saw work continuing to refit the lagging and piping at Locomotive Maintenance Services at Loughborough, with cab pipework and cabling almost completed as this issue went to press.

During mid-February, work in the smokebox was concentrated on fitting spark arrestor screens, which have needed to be manufactured and cut to fit around the main steam pipes. Static testing was due to commence imminently ahead of its transfer to the Great Central Railway, where Tornado will be reunited with its tender and commence running-in trials later in March. It was originally intended to then transfer the Peppercorn A1 directly to the NVR for its Easter visit, but with work slightly behind schedule, it will now first head out in April to undertake testing of the European Train Control System (ECTS) on sections of the Cambrian (as reported last issue), before visiting Peterborough at the end of May.

A1 Steam Locomotive Trust chairman Steve Davies MBE said: “Tornado’s overhaul, combined with the fitting of ETCS, is rapidly approaching completion. There have been the inevitable interruptions one would expect with a project of this complexity, and both parties agreed that the best approach to remove the risk involved is to push Tornado’s appearance slightly to the right.

“The NVR team is now working on the revised schedule which we hope will not inconvenience too many. It is always a pleasure to operate at the Nene Valley and we look forward to renewing old acquaintances.”

A NVR statement said: “While it is extremely disappointing to miss the Easter event, we are committed to Tornado visiting NVR this spring. We are pleased to announce the new dates for the visit of Tornado to the Nene Valley Railway from May 21-27.”

The sold-out driver experiences will now take place from May 21-23, with the A1 then working public passenger services over the bank holiday weekend of May 25-27.

On May 24, the NVR Wagon Group will host its East Coast Freight Storm photographic charter, with the A1 at the head of the restored express freight rake. It will see the consist travel across the full line for photographic runpasts at several locations. The wagon group has recently been concentrating on reinstating the vacuum brakes throughout the entire rake of 18 wagons especially for the occasion, with the train prototypically representing such workings that could commonly be seen travelling along the east coast main line.

Limited places remain available, priced at £140 for the full day. To book, visit nvrwagons.co.uk/coursesand-experiences, and see nvr.org.uk for more information on the Tornado public services.