THE first main line steam locomotive to be built in Britain for almost 50 years hauled its first train to Scotland yesterday.

Tornado pulled The Auld Reekie Express from York to Edinburgh, completing the journey in about six hours.

It is the first time a Peppercorn class A1 locomotive has travelled to Scotland for more than 40 years.

Crowds of railway enthusiasts and passers-by turned out to watch as the train pulled into Waverley Station, in Edinburgh, yesterday afternoon.

Tornado was built by a team of volunteers in Darlington after enthusiasts from the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust raised more than £3m to fund it.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall named Tornado at a ceremony in York on February 19. Yesterday’s train journey, carrying paying passengers, was organised by rail tour promoter Past-Time Rail.

Tornado will make the return journey to York on Saturday.

Class A1s were designed by Arthur H Peppercorn, the last chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.

They were the last in a line of famous express passenger steam locomotives for the East Coast Main Line, and 49 were built in 1948-9 by British Railways.

However, following the move to diesel locomotives, all were scrapped by 1966.

The project to build a Peppercorn class A1 was launched in 1990 and Tornado was completed in August last year.