Steam train hits 100mph in UK in 50-year first

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Apr 21, 2017, 01:04 PM - Edit history (5)

As if anyone except railfans or trainspotters cares, and we all know how dysfunctional they are.*

Promise kept! We're putting coal back to use.

Steam train hits 100mph in UK in 50-year first

April 13, 2017

A steam train clocked 100 miles (161 kilometres) per hour on Britain's mainline railway network for the first time in almost 50 years on Wednesday.

Tornado, a Peppercorn-class A1 steam locomotive, reached the landmark speed during a test run aimed at proving it can operate passenger services at 90mph (145 kph). ... A steam locomotive has not hit 100mph in Britain since 1968, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Built by heritage enthusiasts, Tornado hit the three-figure speed on the East Coast Main Line—the route between London and Edinburgh—during a run between Doncaster and Newcastle in northern England.

The test run was part of a bid to raise Tornado's speed limit for passenger services from 75mph (121 kph) to 90mph by the end of this year. ... Preservation steam locomotives have been restricted to 75mph since the end of steam services on the main lines in the 1960s.

This doesn't look like any 100 mph to me:

NSFW, if you work for ExxonMobil:

Hand-fired? That is retro.

Drone footage shows first UK mainline steam train built in 50 years travelling across iconic Ribblehead Viaduct

By Charlotte Krol, video news producer, and PA
14 February 2017 • 9:49pm

A steam train has hauled passengers on a scheduled main line service for the first time in half a century.

Thousands of people turned out to watch the Peppercorn class A1 steam locomotive Tornado begin the first of three days of pulling the regular service between Appleby in Cumbria and Skipton, in North Yorkshire, along the famous Settle to Carlisle line.

The train left Appleby Station at 8.25am on Tuesday and thundered through the Yorkshire Dales, including a pass over the Ribblehead Viaduct - the mecca for all steam engine and railway photography enthusiasts.

There are many drone videos of the event. This one does not have an annoying sound track:

Such a clean stack. It's a coal-burner too:

LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado

This weekend, the N&W 611 will be running between Greensboro, NC, and Roanoke, VA, IIRC. The Norfolk Southern limits it to 40 mph.

Tornado was built with money contributed by trainspotters throughout Great Britain. There's a similar movement in the United States. This one aims at building a brand new Pennsylvania Railroad T1:

The T1 Trust

Previously at DU: British Railways takes on the snow in the winter of 1962-1963.

and "Tornado to the rescue": Steam train's snow rescue 'glory'

* I'm still excited over seeing my first 7000-series Metrorail cars numbered in the 7300s operating in service yesterday morning and afternoon. Both times, it was on the Green Line. The highest-numbered 7000-series car I've ridden is 7299, the 300th 7000-series car delivered.

[hunter]

1. I love old machines.

Even brand new old machines.

It's beautiful they built it as it might have been had steam trains continued to evolve, just like the originals but without the problems.

They'll probably find lots of railroad enthusiasts willing to shovel coal too.

Ain't it funny how something that used to be hard work isn't when you are doing it for fun?

I worked in a machine shop one summer making some stupid airliner parts, hundreds of them at a time. It wasn't bad work, but it was ordinary.

Meanwhile the more experienced guys seemed to be having a lot of fun making unique parts for NASA spacecraft.

I was watching some of Tornado's build videos and it looked like most those guys were having a grand time too.