Peppercorn A1 Tornado Steam Locomotive

Transcription

1 Peppercorn A1 Tornado Steam Locomotive in association with The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust RailSimulator.com

2 1 HISTORY Origin In Service Demise The Building of Tornado ROLLING STOCK LNER Apple Green Mk1 BFK in Maroon Mk1 FK in Maroon Mk1 FK in Crimson & Cream SCENARIOS The Lickey Tornado ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...9 Page 2

3 1 History 1.1 Origin In 1948 and 1949, the newly nationalised British Railways built, at its Doncaster and Darlington works, forty-nine class A1 Pacifics to the design of the LNER's last Chief Mechanical Engineer, Arthur Peppercorn. In September 1945 Peppercorn s predecessor, Edward Thompson, unveiled his rebuild of Gresley s first Pacific, 4470 Great Northern at Doncaster Works. It wasn t just the engine s new Royal blue livery lined out in red that was striking: very little remained of the original locomotive. The new Great Northern was an angular and ungainly looking locomotive. In spite of its well documented flaws, Thompson was sufficiently satisfied with his A1 to place an order for 16 new-build versions in October 1945 and then another 23 the following year. However, these were the locomotives that three years later would emerge as the Peppercorn A1s, further modified from Thompson s design. The first, 60114, appeared from Doncaster in August 1948 and was named W.P. Allen that October. Another 48 followed by the end of the following year, the last of the class being Saint Johnstoun. The earlier Gresley Pacifics, the most famous of which are class A Flying Scotsman and class A Mallard, were three-cylinder machines which drove all cylinders onto the middle axle. Peppercorn, like Thompson used divided drive, with the middle cylinder connected to the leading axle. Gresley had used conjugated valve gear, while Thompson and Peppercorn used three sets of Walschaerts. But, unlike Thompson, Peppercorn used a markedly larger grate, of 50 sq. ft - the same as that first used by Gresley on his magnificent class P Cock O' the North. Most visibly the outside cylinders were back in their more conventional place resulting in a much more aesthetically pleasing locomotive and one much less prone to frame fractures. In fact JF Harrison went on to say in his presidential address to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in 1961 that this was the kind of locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley would have designed had he still been alive. 1.2 In Service The Peppercorn class A1s worked principal expresses on the East Coast Main Line from 1948 until the end of steam on that route. They hauled trains of up to 600 tons at an average of 60mph; 100 mph was not unknown and on one occasion an A1 produced an estimated 2,400 drawbar horsepower. Five of the original A1s were built with roller bearings on all axles, and the class turned in reliability figures better than those of any other express passenger steam locomotive in the country. Page 3

4 1.3 Demise RailWorks A1 Tornado Steam Locomotive The sole Thompson class A1 Great Northern - originally 4470 then subsequently renumbered 113 and finally by BR - was withdrawn in November 1962 and scrapped at Doncaster Works. Of the Peppercorn class A1s, H.A. Ivatt was the first to go after it was involved in an accident near Offord in September Its classmates all followed between 1964 and 1966, the last to be withdrawn was Saint Mungo, from York in June It was sold to Draper s of Hull in August for breaking up something that tragically took place after the failure of a bid by Geoff Drury (who saved Peppercorn A Blue Peter) to preserve the engine. The fact that none survived was enough of a clarion call to those who believed that a new one should be built, but in addition, a line of preserved East Coast Main Line traction from the 1890s until the end of steam, was broken by the absence of a Peppercorn class A1 from 1966 until now. 1.4 The Building of Tornado In 1990 the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust was founded; a group of like-minded people with the aim of building a brand new Peppercorn A1 Pacific. A feat all the more remarkable as it was to be the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in Britain for nearly 50 years. 19 years of supreme effort later and on 29th July 2008 at Darlington, No Tornado moved under her own power for the first time. Tornado then moved to the NRM at York for three test runs before getting a repaint into LNER Apple Green. After being approved for main-line passenger operation she took her first passenger service, The Peppercorn Pioneer, on 31st January 2009 from York to Newcastle and back. Page 4

5 Peppercorn A1 Specifications: Wheel Arrangement Length over buffers (incl. tender) 72' 11 3/4" m Maximum Height 13' 0" 3.99 m Maximum Width 9' 2 7/8" 2.82 m Total weight (full) 166 tons 2 cwt tonnes Weight of locomotive only (full) 105 tons 4 cwt tonnes Adhesive weight (full boiler) 66 tons 11 cwt 67.7 tonnes Maximum axle load 22 tons 7 cwt 22.7 tonnes Maximum Boiler Pressure 250 lb/sq in Bar Nominal Tractive 85% 37,397 lb kn Maximum speed 90 mph 145 km/hr Diameter of driving wheels 6' 8" 2.03 m Diameter of bogie wheels 3' 2" 0.97 m Diameter of trailing carrying wheels 3' 8" 1.12 m Cylinders 3 3 Piston stroke 26" 0.66 m Piston diameter 19" 0.48 m Valve diameter 10" 0.25 m BOILER Maximum diameter 6' 5" 1.96 m Overall length 29' 2" 8.89 m Distance between tube plates 16' 11 5/8" 5.17 m Heating surface (firebox) sq ft m2 Heating surface (small tubes) sq ft m2 Heating surface (superheater tubes) sq ft m2 Total evaporative heating surfaces sq ft m2 Superheater heating surface sq ft m2 Grand total heating surface sq ft m2 FIREBOX Grate area 50 sq ft 4.65 m2 Small tubes 121 x 2 1/4" D 57.2 mm D Superheater flues 43 x 5 1/4" D 133 mm D Superheater elements 43 x 4 elements - TENDER Coal capacity 7.5 tons 7.62 tonnes Water capacity 6,200 gallons 28,185 litres Weight (full) 60 tons 18 cwt tonnes Wheel arrangement 8 wheels rigid - Wheel diameter 4' 2" 1.27 m Page 5

6 2 Rolling Stock The following rolling stock is available in this Add On. 2.1 LNER Apple Green 2.2 Mk1 BFK in Maroon Page 6

7 2.3 Mk1 FK in Maroon 2.4 Mk1 FK in Crimson & Cream Page 7

8 3 Scenarios 3.1 The Lickey Tornado Originally intended to start in Gloucester, the tour has been extended to include the outbound journey up the GWML as well. Date June 2009 Rating Easy Duration 45 Minutes Start Time 13:00pm Season Summer Start Location Maidenhead Station Page 8

9 4 Acknowledgements The whole team at RailSimulator.com would like to thank the following people for their help in the development of this add-on: The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust Mark Allatt Tony Lord Neil Whitaker Ian Bowskill Tom Walters Zane Saxton Bill Hobbs All our dedicated beta testers We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the various online rail fan communities for their continued support and valued feedback. For further enquiries about the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, please contact them at: Darlington Locomotive Works, Hopetown Lane, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 6RQ Page 9