page_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
section_title: Components and boiler
hierarchical_section_title: LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado / Commissioning / Components and boiler
caption_attribution_description: The safety valve of the steam locomotive 60163 Tornado
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: A computer simulation was used to assist in the setting up of the valves and motion. The boiler safety valves were tested on LNER Class A4 60009 Union of South Africa at the Severn Valley Railway before their delivery to Meiningen for fitting to the boiler.
  On 10 July 2006, the boiler was hydraulically tested at the manufacturer's factory at one-and-a-half times working pressure and was passed safe. On 11 January 2008 the boiler passed its first steam test, in tests carried out by an external boiler inspector. The boiler was noted by the inspector to be a very rapid boiler, boding well for use on the main line. As also noted by the inspector, being brand new Tornado's boiler exhibited no leaks of any kind during the test, in contrast to heritage restorations.
  For the test, the fire was lit and the boiler was allowed to warm up over 48 hours before being then taken up to 260 psi (1,800 kPa), just over the maximum working pressure. During the test, the boiler safety valves were set to the correct pressure.
  At that time the tender body was not yet finished, so the test was conducted using a water bowser. The boiler was creating steam so efficiently that the water supply was being used faster than it could be replenished by the mains water supply to the works. In order to complete the test and not prematurely damp down the fire, an emergency call for water was made to the local fire brigade, who responded with a fire tender to supply more water. This was sensationally but inaccurately reported in one local newspaper as "fire brigade called to prevent boiler explosion".
caption: One of Tornado’s boiler safety valves
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