page_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
section_title: Great Central Railway
hierarchical_section_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado / Commissioning / Great Central Railway
caption_attribution_description: 60163 Tornado at the Grand Central Railway, 22 August 2008
context_page_description: 60163 Tornado is a main-line coal-fired steam locomotive built in Darlington, County Durham, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom since Evening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, in 1960. It is the only example of an LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotive in existence, the entirety of the original production batch having been scrapped without proper preservation. The locomotive's namesake is the Panavia Tornado, a combat aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force from 1979 to 2019. In April 2017 Tornado became the first steam locomotive officially to reach 100 mph on British tracks for more than 50 years.
  Construction of Tornado began in 1994 and was at Darlington Works for most of the project, whilst numerous components such as the boiler were manufactured elsewhere. The project was financed through fundraising initiatives such as public donations and sponsorship deals and further funding came from hiring out Tornado itself for special rail services. Construction was completed in 2008 and full certification of the locomotive was achieved in January 2009.
context_section_description: From Darlington works, Tornado was moved by road on two articulated lorries to the 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) preserved Great Central Railway, where she would perform mileage accumulation and testing, before hauling her first passenger trains.
  After being transported to the GCR on 19 August 2008, Tornado was unloaded at Quorn and Woodhouse station the following day, and towed to the GCR Loughborough shed.
  Tornado performed her first non-stop mile run at the GCR on 21 August, and hauled her first empty trains on 22 August. For the GCR's Day out with Thomas event on an August bank holiday weekend (23–25 August 2008), Tornado wore a small Thomas face for light runs during those three said days.
  It was anticipated that Tornado would need around 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of running to bed in, before moving to the main line proper. Following HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) approval, 60 mph (97 km/h) running was achieved by the end of September 2008. Prior to mid-October 2008, Tornado had achieved 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of fault-free running. By the end of October, Tornado had run 1,500 miles (2,400 km).
  While at the GCR, Tornado hauled empty passenger trains at speeds up to 60 mph (97 km/h), and load test trains of up to around 500 tons. One load test in September involved the hauling of a rake of 11 empty coaches and a dead Class 45 diesel locomotive. Also in one load test, over 2,000edhp (Effective Drawbar Horsepower) was recorded. On 10 September Tornado was officially timed for the first time, hauling 518 tons up the 1-in-176 gradient south from Rothley railway station.
  According to the preserved railway's president, Tornado achieved a "smooth debut" while at the GCR. Tornado was also described as having performed in the testing and passenger runs "effortlessly" and "faultlessly".
caption: Tornado at the GCR, 22 August 2008
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