A1 Steam Locomotive Trust Verified listing

Peppercorn A1 Class, No. 60163 Tornado is a 21st century steam locomotive.

Tornado may look like something from a bygone age but it was, in fact, completed in 2008, built from scratch by a dedicated team of volunteers. Established in 1990, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust was formed to build a Peppercorn class A1 Pacific, based on the 1940s design but fully equipped for operating on today’s railway.

In the last decade the engine has found fame on large and small screen, appearing in the PADDINGTON 2 movie and starring in Top Gear’s ‘Race to the North’. Tornado is also famed for reaching 100mph in secret night time tests in 2017, making it the first steam locomotive to reach such high speeds since the 1960s.

As a charity we rely on fundraising to keep achieving amazing feats with Tornado. From build to daily maintenance, much of the locomotive as you see it today has been funded by a lot of people contributing a small amount on a regular basis. Donations from our supporters ensure that Tornado will continue to operate on the main line for decades to come.

We are now nearing completion of a second new build steam locomotive, Gresley P2 Class No. 2007 Prince of Wales which, when it enters service, will be the most powerful steam locomotive in the UK. All of our projects are solely funded by public donation.

The registered offices of the Trust are:

Darlington Locomotive Works
9 Bonomi Way
DARLINGTON
DL3 0PY

Company Registered No: 2636924

Charity Registration No 1022834

Everyone is welcome to come and view the Engineering Workshops and to see the current locomotive under construction. Open days are the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, 10:00hrs-15:00hrs.

The Trust regularly gives fascinating presentations to interested groups on our work; how we built and now, how we operate Tornado and how we are building Prince of Wales as part of our ongoing educational remit, and many of these talks are free and open to the public.

We can promise you a most interesting and entertaining occasion!

Scheduled Presentations (updated 20th October 2023):

• 6th November 2023 - Manchester Locomotive Society, Graham Nicholas, P2
• 5th December 2023 - Hemsworth Probus Mans Group Group, Gary Hughes, A1
• 7th December 2023 - Buxton Branch of Peak Rail Asssociation, Graham Nicholas, P2
• 8th December 2023 - Leicester Area Group - GCR Supporters, Graham Langer, P2
• 14th February 2024 - Hexham Beacon Club, Graham Nicholas, P2
• 25th March 2024 - RCTS Maidenhead and Windsor  Branch, Chris Ardy, P2
• 11th September 2024 - U3A Northallerton, Graham Nicholas, A1 & P2