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Thursday 13th January 2022 Great Central Railway, Loughborough, LE11 1RW

A day of steam action on the Great Central Railway featuring No.60163 Tornado with BR coaching stock

Join us for a full day of Winter steam action featuring the celebrity A1 Class Pacific No.60163 Tornado in British Railways lined green livery at the head of a long rake of BR maroon/carmine and cream coaches

£110.00

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About this event

We are delighted to be able to offer a full day of Winter steam photography at the Great Central Railway using No.60163 Tornado which is paying a short working visit prior to withdrawal for overhaul early in 2022.

Our day will start at Loughborough GCR Station where it will be possible to get breakfast from 09.00 onwards. Please arrive by 09.30 for our important safety briefing prior to a planned 10.00 start. On this occasion, we will work our way along the line from Loughborough taking in locations around Beeches Road and approaching Quorn before visiting the more traditional locations of Rabbit Bridge and Kinchley Lane. We will be able to travel on the train and will have use of the griddle car all day, which has always been a popular addition to the formation! We plan to use a mixture of maroon and carmine and cream coaching stock to make up a train of authentic length to put behind these most powerful of locomotives. Our planned finish time will be sunset before returning to Loughborough just after dark.

Accepting that Flying Scotsman is the most famous British steam locomotive as far as the public at large is concerned, Tornado has run it a close second in the decade and more since it made its main line debut. The building of a brand new steam locomotive to the design of A H Peppercorn captured the imagination of the enthusiast and wider public, with the A1 attracting much press attention wherever it appeared. The project started in 1990 when it was formerly announced that a new Pacific to the design of the 49 original A1 Class locos would be built and would carry the next number in sequence to the last member of the class to be built, No.60162 Saint Johnstoun - eighteen years later, No.60163 Tornado took to the rails.

The locomotive has carried a number of liveries authentic to the original members of the class, and is currently in the later Brunswick lined dark green livery which the locos would have carried in the mid-1960s (the last of the class, St Mungo, was withdrawn in Summer 1966). They were most readily associated with heavy passenger workings on the East Coast Main Line and could haul loads of up to fifteen coaches, but as the 1960s went on they were gradually cascaded down to van trains, goods and, less commonly, even mineral trains. None of the original engines were preserved.

We would like to extend our grateful thanks to Tornado’s owners, the A1 Locomotive Trust, and the host Great Central Railway for facilitating this event. Even though the ticket price is slightly higher than normal due to the higher cost of loco higher we expect places to be at a premium, so please book early to ensure you are on board. 

Event requirements

Equipment

  • Spare batteries
  • Camera
  • Lenses
  • Camera protection - rain covers etc

Other things you should bring

  • Snacks

Knowledge

  • All levels welcome

Fitness

  • Medium

Other essentials

  • High vis jacket
  • Sturdy outdoor shoes
  • Warm clothing
  • Wet weather gear

Event location

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