A1 Steam Locomotion (Tornado) Heritage Award

Awarded Presented to: Class A1 Steam Locomotive (Tornado: 60163) 

Award Number: 51

Awarded: 23 May 2009

Background:

The A1s were designed by Arthur H Peppercorn (29 January 1889 - 3 March 1951), the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The original 49 Peppercorn Class A1s were ordered by the LNER and built at Doncaster and Darlington for British Railways (BR) in 1948/9, after the nationalisation of the railways.

With the rapid onset of dieselisation in the 1960s, all 49 were scrapped, after an average life of only 15 years.

In 1990 the A1 Locomotive Trust was formed with the intent of building a new class A1 locomotive.  The A1 Trust intended Tornado to be built from scratch.  It was designed and built as the next locomotive in the A1 Peppercorn class and not as a replica or restoration project but an evolution of the class, incorporating design improvements that would have occurred had steam motive power continued on the mainline railway. 

Work on the Tornado continued for 18 years until 2008 when the first mainline tests were conducted.  On 31 January 2009, the Peppercorn Pioneer was the first passenger journey using the Tornado on the UK mainline.  Prince Charles officially named the train on 19 February 2009.

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Citation:  

Tornado – A1 Pacific Locomotive.  Designer: A H Peppercorn.  Completed in 2008 using a blend of traditional and modern engineering skills, Tornado is the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in this country since 1960.  The A1 Pacifics were the last LNER express passenger design, able to run 118,000 miles between repairs.  None were preserved at the end of steam.