Peppercorn A1 Pacific Tornado.

30/12/2008.Never before in my life have I ever been so proud of people I have never met. That all changed today when I took myself off to the National Railway Museum in York,to have a look for myself at this wonderful piece of machinery in real life,its a credit to all the people who were involved in this awesome project.

There was a documentry on BBC on Christmas Eve at 11am.,it was called Absolutely Chuffed The Men Who Built A Steam Engine and was very good.

I will remind all my fans out there that I am not a steam buff or train spotter,but this steam engine has grabbed my interest big time.

Peppercorn A1 Pacific Steam Locomotive

Exciting times for all you steam fans out there,apparently some brave souls have built a brand new Peppercorn A1 Pacific steam locomotive. There were 49 of these powerful steam locos built in the late 40s early fifties and by 1966 all had been scrapped,so that meant none were around for preservation. I first became aware of this project in the early nineties when a guy I used to work with was going around trying to get people to invest money in this project. I showed the leaflet with all the information about how they were going to do it to my good friend Sam Holding the well known Wigan publican,who had a passing interest in steam engines. His retort 'ah wouln't invest in that lad,they are building it in Germany.' However,I am aware that certain parts of it were built overseas,but am sure most of the work was if possible carried out in the UK.

The new one is numbered 50 and carries the name Tornado,and it is now in service. Well done to all involved,and Mike Fanning who first got me interested in this project cheers I owe you a drink.