VIDEO: Tornado locomotive steams through Peterborough

A locomotive steamed through Peterborough on a flying visit yesterday.
The Tornado (pic British Transport police)The Tornado (pic British Transport police)
The Tornado (pic British Transport police)

The Tornado reached 90,000 miles in service on Saturday, and came through the city yesterday afternoon.

Since completion in Darlington in 2008, new Peppercorn class A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado has seen service on the Network Rail mainline and heritage railways right across Great Britain. Highlights have included three Royal Trains including the naming by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in February 2009; BBC Top Gear ‘Race to the North’ with Jeremy Clarkson on the footplate; ‘The Winton’ train to commemorate the 70th anniversary on the Kinder Transport and the rescuing of stranded commuters in Kent.

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No. 60163 Tornado was named in honour of the crews who flew RAF Tornado fast jets during the first Gulf War in 1990/91 when the project to build the new Peppercorn class A1 steam locomotive was launched. The locomotive originally carried crests from the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) and RAF Cottesmore on its nameplates but following the closure of the former and the transfer of the latter to other uses, Tornado now carries the crests of RAF Leeming (former Tornado base close to Darlington) and RAF Marham (current home of the Tornado Force).

The train will run from Peterborough to Edinburgh on the Heart of Midlothian run on May 1.

For more information visit www.a1steam.com