page_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
section_title: Fundraising
hierarchical_section_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado / Funding / Fundraising
caption_attribution_description: English: 60163 Tornado being prepared
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: Tornado was built by the Locomotive Construction Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. At 1990s prices, the projected cost of the project was £1.6 million.
  The trust has used Deeds of Covenant since the start of the project in 1990, marketed under the slogan "Build a main line loco for the price of a pint of beer a week!" Covenantors can wear a special A1 Trust tie and pay a fixed amount monthly by standing order, and for this they receive honour roll recognition, event and viewing priority, regular trust publications and the right to attend the annual conventions.
  In September 1996, the concept of dedicated covenants was launched. Now renamed dedicated donations, these were one-off payments of £25 to £25,000 to sponsor a particular part. As with regular covenantors, dedicated donors receive recognition, and an engineering drawing of the component they sponsored.
  In October 1999 a £250,000 appeal was launched to fund the boiler, whose absence was noticeable with Tornado then comprising a wheeled frame with completed cab and smokebox. As Tornado began to look like a locomotive with the mating of the frame with the wheelset in the autumn of 2000, fundraising progress increased, breaking previous records by recruiting 100 new covenantors in two months. By 2005, the trust had raised over £1.5m.
  Completion of the boiler was achieved through a half million pound bond issue. Following securing of the boiler funds, the last major part, the tender, was achieved with a £200,000 single sponsor donation.
  By May 2008, £2.5m had been raised and spent, and the gap to the required £3m had been raised to complete Tornado However, due to the Chinese economic boom causing raw materials cost increases, together with increased certification costs, a further £50,000 appeal had to be launched if main line running was to be achieved by September.
  By the end of September 2008, the Trust still needed to raise £66,000 to pay for tests and trials to allow main line operation. While at the GCR, the project costs were running at the rate of £10,000 a month, rising to "six-figure bills" for certification in the months up to January 2009.
  Launched in 2004, the Trust's half million pound bond issue offered 4% returns, but in January 2009 £100,000 worth of these bonds remained unsubscribed.
caption: A project volunteer prepares Tornado for operation
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