Tornado rebuild

[burnie]

Anyone heard anything about the progress? as it's less than 6 weeks to it hauling the first "Aberdonian" of the year, it seems odd it's not somewhere having trials by now.

[Atlantic 3279]

Latest newsletter by e-mail this morning shows three advertised runs cancelled and other Aberdonians will not be Tornado-hauled.

Early LAST year my daughter thought I should be positive and book myself onto one of the advertised Summer 2022 Tornado trips. I resisted, knowing that almost all repairs end up taking longer, and involving more than was originally planned. It's very sad that over a year later than the the date on which I chose not to rely, the loco still won't be ready...

The confidently predicted shorter time for building the trust's second loco seems to have gone to oblivion too.

[60526]

Last thing I heard was that the chassis and tender are at Locomotive Maintenance Services in Loughborough (not GCR) and the boiler is at these new premises in Darlington. Understand that the 2nd batch of boiler tubes have been rejected by their boiler insurance company.

[burnie]

Shame, I too had held back on booking, expecting cancellations.

[markindurham]

Sadly, it's out of the A1 Trust's hands if the boiler insurer has rejected the batch of tubes.

Remember the furore elsewhere a few years ago, when some copper sheets for fireboxes turned out to be off spec, despite what the paperwork supplied with the material said?

[burnie]

Better to do it once and get it right the first time, just a shame for those working on it.

[burnie]

It's been announced the Jubilee "Leander" will haul two of the "Aberdonian" trains later this month, made we wonder if that class ever wandered onto these rails back in the day, I know they went to Perth.

[burnie]

A very short video of the Aberdonian hauled by the Jubilee, there is sound if you click on the link
The Aberdonian by tigerburnie, on Flickr

[burnie]

I see all the scheduled Aberdonian trips are cancelled, I take it the re-build is still behind schedule.

[burnie]

Nice to see the loco is now at the Great Central for fine tuning and testing under her own steam.

[burnie]

I note that some of the scheduled Aberdonian Expresses have been cancelled, is the loco not performing?

[Mercator II]

Below is an edited version of the recent communications from the trust

As you may be aware our flagship locomotive, No. 60163 Tornado has been undergoing a significant overhaul. We have worked hard to return the engine to the main line in time for trains this summer, however it is now clear that Tornado will not be complete in time. The recommissioning of the locomotive systems after the significant works undertaken, including the world’s first fitment of ETCS, and the certification process has taken longer than forecast. We have considered the use of an alternative locomotive, however that has not been possible. It is therefore with great disappointment that we must cancel the planned July Aberdonian trains. We are planning on rescheduling the Ribblehead Rambler to the 31st of August and the Caledonian to the first week of September. We expect all the September trains to run as planned.

As a charity, this cancellation comes as a big blow as it further delays our return to the earnings on which we rely, but more than that: we are heartbroken to let down our keen volunteers and passengers who have put their faith in us. We sometimes get asked why we advertise a train if there is a chance it won't run as planned. It takes around 6 months to establish and sell a train, and unfortunately a lot can change in that time. In the last month alone, the overhaul has been forestalled by the scarcity of skilled welders which has had a knock on to booked resources for final commissioning, testing and certification being available.

[Atlantic 3279]

!!!!!!!

[ColHut]

Yes , would be comical if it wasn’t a farce… My Brother has twice travelled to the UK now for a trip on the Aberdonian only to have each cancelled. I suppose it reflects the staggering lack of competence in the remnant locomotive heavy industry , now a cottage industry. Quite a decline in a population of 70 million to not be able to support the fairly large number of operating Steam engines. It is not as if anything here is high tech.

Perhaps they could ship these things to Germany or the USA or China for a rebuild.

Regards

[Mercator II]

The boiler did get shipped to Germany, where it was manufactured. That took alot long than was planned, and upon its return had issues with the tubes warranting them been replaced again

As for high tech, this is the most advanced steam locomotive in the UK

Part of the prolonged delay is down to the designing and fitting the new on board electronic signalling system, when has never been fitted to a steam locomotive before

It's completely understandable that these delays have caused alot of upset & anguish and possibly damaged the reputation of the trust

It's also true that the UK is lacking in skilled people to do all the works for the heritage sector but there are many skilled companies, but more would be needed