Two hours after the Scarborough Spa Express left York on Thursday, the Jorvik Express arrived (Jorvik is an ancient name for York), hauled by locomotive 'Tornado', here seen entering platform 10 from the south. A small part of it's welcome party can be seen on the rightm cameras in action!
Tornado is unlike other steam locomotives that operate on the main lines in the UK, in that it is not preserved from the age of steam, but it is a new build replica of a type of locomotive where they all went to the scrapyards in the 1960s.
In 1990 a group of people came together to share an extraordinary ambition – to construct a brand new Peppercorn A1 Pacific. They formed The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and after nineteen years of incredible effort that locomotive, No. 60163 Tornado, moved under its own power for the first time in 2008. It is not an exact copy of the originals, but is a refined version with some improvements and modifications to make it fully suitable for modern conditions. So successful has it been that fundraising and construction of another extinct type of steam locomotive has been started, and there are plans for a third from the same group.
Sorry for the late post, but Katharine and I have been on a Moorsbus trip today - more about that in a couple of days time.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
I think there is a bit of a pause in steam trains working through York, until several due to visit for the Christmas Market in November and December.
Ian
Thank you both, I'm glad that you like this one!
Ian