Old meets new. On her maiden passenger voyage, the brand new steam locomotive no. 60163 Tornado faces the Castle Keep in Newcastle upon Tyne, northern England.

Tornado had arrived just after 13:20 GMT on Saturday 31 January 2009 on her first main line passenger journey, The Peppercorn Pioneer. This train had started in York to the south, arriving in Newcastle over the King Edward VII Bridge.

Tornado stands on Platform 2 of Newcastle Central Station facing East with her support coach, and a rake of 12 passenger carriages behind it, photographed from Platform 3. The railway tracks in the background bear left as the continuation of the East Coast Main Line north to Scotland, and bear right to go south over the High Level Bridge back over the River Tyne. After the picture was taken, the coaching stock was hauled clear by a diesel, and Tornado reversed under her own steam to Tyne Yard for servicing, before returning to haul the return journey at 16:34 GMT.

Tornado is a 100% new locomotive, completed in 2008, the first new main line steam locomotive to be built in Britain for almost 50 years. She was built to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) design of the original A1 Peppercorn Class locomotives, built in 1948/9.

Tornado wears the historic Apple Green livery of LNER, although with 'British Railways' on the tender, the first livery worn by 30 members of the original 49 strong Peppercorn A1 class. The original locomotives entered service with the nationalised British Railways, which absorbed the LNER and other private railway companies in 1948. The original A1 class were all scrapped by 1966 after a relatively short service life, after the railway Modernisation Plan of the 1950s called for the replacement of steam with modern traction comprising both diesel and electric locomotives.

On her maiden voyage, Tornado was carrying 500 financial supporters of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust on The Peppercorn Pioneer, named in honour of Arthur Peppercorn, the chief engineer of the LNER and the original designer of the Peppercorn A1 class of locomotive. The A1 Trust are a Darlington based charity who built the locomotive, in a project dating back to 1990 and costing £3 million. Date 31 January 2009 midday Source Own work Author User:Ultra7 Permission
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