Rail fans all steamed up over Tornado visit
RAIL fans enjoyed a rare treat as a famous steam train made what is thought to be its first daylight journey through Stockport.
The 100mph plus 60163 Tornado, which has featured in film and TV productions, was seen as it made its way through Stockport station on Monday.
It was on its way from the Severn Valley, where it has been a tourist attraction, to Bury, where it will do the same on the East Lancashire Railway.
Steam enthusiasts had been hoping to see it on the way down two weeks earlier but the train had been driven down on a lorry after a bridge en route had been made unsafe by an accident.
The Tornado has travelled through Stockport before but it was under the cover of darkness and with little publicity as it was used to transport Prince Charles for a Royal visit in 2010.
Melvin Thorley, 71, from Offerton, was at Stockport station to capture the moment as the train waited for the signal before crossing the viaduct.
He said: “It has only travelled across Greater Manchester once and that was a few years ago as a Royal train.
“So it was unbelievable. The station is near Stockport County’s ground and for a rail fan seeing the Tornado was the equivalent of Real Madrid visiting Edgeley Park.”
The Tornado became the first steam train to be built in Britain since railways turned diesel in 1968 and was used in the film Paddington 2.
It took 18 years to build and was completed in 2008.
Other classic trains have been brought back to life but only with restoration projects and of the 49 Tornados made in the 1960s all were scrapped.
This reincarnation is usually kept on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway but does go on other tourist lines.
It has been to the Bury area before but only going there from Yorkshire, so did not journey though Greater Manchester to any great extent.
This time it could also be seen at Cheadle Hulme, Reddish, Denton, Ashton, Clayton and Castleton.
The Tornado has also been seen on TV show Top Gear as part of a race from London to Edinburgh with a car and a motorbike.