Engineering news
At least £3 million remains to be raised to build the UK’s most powerful steam locomotive, the head of the trust developing it has said.
More than £2 million has been raised by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust in the last two years to build the Gresley class P2 No 2007 Prince of Wales. The project has an estimated total cost of £5 million, and the loco is planned to enter service in 2021.
Mark Allatt, chairman of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: “We remain on track. However, to maintain this rate of progress we need to continue to raise in excess of £700,000 per year, which becomes more challenging as each year passes.
“The Prince of Wales will complete development work started in 1934 but unfinished due to other projects and the Second World War. We decided that we would complete the development work by building what would have been the seventh of this class.” The new locomotive is already one-third complete by weight, with the rolling chassis expected to be finished by spring 2017.
The A1 trust was responsible for building the 60163 Tornado that was completed in 2008 – the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in Britain since 1960 and the first to be paid for by public subscription.
The Prince of Wales’ drawings are being produced with 3D CAD, making the manufacturing process simpler than for the Tornado. Allatt said: “Although we are delivering the locomotive to a historic design, it needs to run on a railway which hasn’t been equipped for steam for almost 50 years. We also need to have all modern electronics on the new locomotive – the original didn’t have any electrical power at all.”
Funding for the Prince of Wales has come from various sources. More than 670 people have signed up to the ‘P2 for the price of a pint of beer per week’ covenant scheme since its launch a year ago.
The original P2s were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway. Gresley also designed the world-famous Flying Scotsman and the 126mph Mallard.