A1 Loco repair under way

The work on the firebox is taking place as planned at supplier DB Meiningen

Extensive work to repair the firebox of a new £3 million steam locomotive is progressing according to schedule in Germany and the boiler will be returned to Britain at the end of the month.

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, which builds and operates the locomotive, known as Tornado, said work on the firebox was taking place as planned at supplier DB Meiningen.

The work is concentrating on the replacement of platework, renewalof stays and work on the foundation ring. The locomotive was built over 20 years by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, a charity, at its Darlington locomotive works. The locomotive has since entered regular service on excursion trains on the Network Rail main line. 

Tornado has been in intensive use for some two-and-a-half years as the locomotive has operated across the UK on mainline charters and heritage railways. The boiler and firebox usage is similar to that which would be expected between heavy general overhauls in the 1950s in terms of hot-cold-hot boiler cycles.

The repairs are already well in-hand and are expected to cost no more than £50,000, A1 said.

Tornado’s boiler should be returned to the UK at the end of March following a hydraulic test in Germany. This will then be rapidly followed by an in-the-frames steam test and the rapid reassembly of the locomotive, with all of the other scheduled winter maintenance work having been completed in the workshop at the National Railway Museum, York, before the boiler’s return.

Tornado will then conduct both light engine and loaded test runs in early May before being made available for traffic. It is planned to return the locomotive to service in May.