| Archive for Freesteam For collectors and enthusiasts of all steam engines |
| MFSteam |
Tornado, A day of Highs and LowsI had been waiting for this day for a very long time, as a full size steam enthusiast, the chance to travel behind Britains brand new A1 steam locomotive on its first London departure was great. Expectations were high as we waited on platform 19 at Waterloo at 9.20 on Saturday. The huge crowds that wee at the end of the platforms heard the sound of the A1`’s whistle in the distance and cameras began clicking, the class 67 Thunderbird came into view pulling the rake of mixed vintage stock and a certain green steam engine on the back.This was our first glimpse of the new engine 
As both of us are window hangers we were keen to secure our place, the loco could wait. Our coach was F and here came the first disappointment of the day, we were the second from the back, on a 13 coach train that is a long way back. But at least we were on the train and that was good enough. The loco whistle up to signal its departure and we were off. New Old meets the New 
Making splendid progress with a train weighing more than 600 tons 
We made steady progress through the suburbs of London, stopping at Stains to pick up a few more passengers that didn’t want to go into London. We passed by the old motor racing circuit called Brooklands, you cant see much but it is there. 
By this point on the trip the thing that struck me most was not the performance of the Tornado but the amount of people that had come out to see her. Every station we passed must have had at least 100 people watching others had more. Level crossings, bridges and fields were full of people taking pics and videos. I’m not sure how they all found out but it certainly added to the sense of occasion It was really cold with the windows down, but this helped ease the pain 
We stopped at Overton for water by this time we had not gone above 60mph, somewhat disappointing but we were keeping time. With the watering complete we headed off for the next stop at Eastleigh. We were now treated to some more energetic running, we even reached our permitted maximum of 75 mph. Passing class 66’s at the Freightliner Depot near Southampton. 
When we arrived at Eastleigh the train was so long that it didn’t fit the platform so we had to walk through a couple of carriages just to get off. The crowds on the plat form were huge, I managed to get a reasonable look at Tornado and got some reasonable pics. The Man on the Shovel 
The as yet unnamed Tornado 
Spitting ash into the air 
What’s an A1 doing with a genuine A4 chime whistle? 
It was soon time to get back on the train and get on our way to London 
To our great surprise we were switched to the Fast Up Line, this could only mean one thing, some fast running would be the order of the day because we needed to keep ahead of the service trains. We weren’t to be disappointed, Tornado dealt easily with her huge load reaching her maximum speed. It must have looked superb tearing through stations at 75mph. All too soon we were switched back to the slow line for the run through to Stains and Waterloo. We then thought that all the fun was over as the run through the suburbs is a slow one. Then something strange happened just East of Stains, we stopped at a green light! It could only mean something was wrong, the Stewards came trough the train and were saying that the fire had clinkered up. There was only one thing to do, the Thunderbird diesel at the backed revved up and pushed us for the final 12 miles into Waterloo. On arrival we wandered down to the loco, fighting our way through the crowds again. This time we were a little closer 
We were a little concerned about what had happened to Tornado and managed to ask the footplate crew what had happened, this was the reason we need to be pushed in 
So it was a day of highs and lows but one I really enjoyed, to be fair we kept time and we enjoyed some excellent running. With 13 coaches and a dead diesel, that is a huge load that was dealt with easily. There is much much more to come from this beast. I think that the thing that struck me most was the huge numbers of people ( and we are talking 10’s of thousands) that came out to see her, she really has capture the imagination of the general public. It’s a shame we were at the back of the train but that’s just how it goes. Time to say goodbye 
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| Bowman |
Fabulous, really fabulous.
Sandy |
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| joiner |
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Clinker formation. All coal contains non-combustible components. Some of these components can melt at the temperatures attained in the coal bed. When this happens, the molten substance flows together to form a clinker. Since the clinker can't burn, it blocks off a portion of the firebed, reducing the engine's output (sometimes by extreme amounts). The fireman has to attempt to break it up manually using a steel rod and then shake the engine's grates to get the pieces to drop into the ash pan. This was a laborious task, especially on a moving train. |
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| MFSteam |
Its hard to clinker a fire when you have run out of coal:q27: The biggest problem main line steam has is the quality of coal. It is very poor when compared with Welsh steam coal. Its even worse when you haven't got any THe boiler pressure was just over 100psi when we got in. |
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| SillyBilly |
What you're saying about everyone truning out to see and film it is all so brilliantly true http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yve2-VMt5w , if it was a P2 I'd love the project. I do hope mainline steam lasts for a long time, I would love to fire big boxes at high speeds. | ||
| Spokesmann |
Great account and images Ian, sorry about the coach position! 
Looking at the engine up close the thing that stands out, aprat from the amazing engineering standards, is how crisp and sharp everything looks, all the edges to plates and surface have clean lines and look so new . . . . Glad you got a beer bottle shot in . . . 
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| avenger |
Great pics Ta | ||
| andysleigh |
Great report Ian.
She sure is a beauty! |
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| newts |
Very enjoyable report & pics 
Hopefully the highs surpassed the lows of the day |
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| silverfoxsteam |
Great account Ian. Whoever worked out the fuel consumption and loaded the bunker must have egg on face! | ||
| Minor1PJG |
Unbelievable to run out of coal 
Still, it looked like a great day
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| MTA |
It happened on one railtour I was on too, Paul!
It was the very first 'Spitfire' tour to the hop festival at Faversham. On the return 73096 ran out of coal, so 73107 had to provide some assistance. Best railtour I have been on though! I'll always remember seeing the cliffs at Dover bathed in glorious Summer's evening sunshine on the return run. Oh, and the free bottle of 'Spitfire' for every passenger
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| Minor1PJG |
The free bottle of beer always makes a steam journey more pleasant 
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| MTA |
Not so good was when I was 'window hanging' and people decided to pour the dregs of their glasses out of the window only for it to hit you in the face at 75mph 
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pieces to drop into the ash pan. This was a laborious task, especially on a moving train.