Review | 60163 Tornado: Classic Train For The Modern Age

60163 Tornado: Classic Train For The Modern Age

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Similar to assembling a Cadillac car with newly made frame and body, the 60163 Tornado is a steam locomotive built from top to bottom during the modern age in 2008.

Why Tornado?  The sponsor who gave £50,000 was given the right to name the train whatever name it wishes.  Since the first gulf war was crisp on everybody’s thoughts that time, it was decided to offer the locomotive a name honoring the RAF pilots who flew the Tornado fighter aircraft.  Thus, the name “Tornado.”

The Royal Air Force themselves had offered the builders of the 60163 Tornado the nameplates bearing the name “Tornado” through the frame laying ceremony in January 1995.

The 60163 Tornado is actually a plan targeted to re-establish classic locomotives and treasure their heritage.  A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Locomotive Construction Co. arranged and built the Tornado as part of the locomotive heritage movement.

The Tornado is an idea combining classic engineering and modern ingenuity and it’s a testament to how vintage items turn out to be more sought after as time passes.  But its cost did not come cheap.  When the project was still being planned, the projected expense for the Tornado was at £1.6 million but due to inflation resulting to high prices of materials and labour, the cost practically went twofold at £3 million and the Tornado was completed two years behind the original schedule.

In July 29, 2008, the Tornado began its first run at Darlington along Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire on the Great Central Railway in Loughborough, a preserved double-track railway with working signals and intended to entertain tourists.

The Tornado reached speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph) and being painted in apple green color made the Tornado a 21st century passenger train.  In January 31, 2009, the Tornado made its first run to transport passengers.  The cost to put together the Tornado formed debt for its makers and making it a passenger train is a way to be able to pay off those debts.

The Tornado’s speed is also limited to only 140 km/h though it is said to be able to go as fast as 160 km/h.

The Tornado’s original color was grey and the logo on the side of its coal-car originally have A1 Trust’s website painted on it.  When the color of the Tornado was changed to apple green to honor the the 1940’s locomotives, the coal-car’sinsignia were changed to British Railways.

The Tornado’s paintwork was done by the NRM in front of 500 people and were done with the use of just hands and paintbrushes. 

Due to the endeavor and the amount of resources poured in building the Tornado, Bachmann trains has honored this new age classic in one of their limited edition model train collection.  The Bachmann 32-550A Class A1 60163 ‘Tornado’ has captured every detail of the life-size Tornado and will be a valuable piece to one’s model trains collection.

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