THE first main line steam locomotive to be built in this country for nearly 50 years is to pull its first public passenger train next month.

The Northern Echo has teamed up with the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets on the Tornado when it travels from Darlington to London, on Saturday, February 7.

It will be pulling the Talisman train, which was British Railways’ prestigious London to Edinburgh express and was regularly hauled by Tornado’s now extinct class members.

This will be a particularly poignant journey as Tornado will be setting off from its home town where it was built by a band of volunteers over nearly two decades.

The £3m Tornado is the 50th Peppercorn Class A1 Locomotive to be built.

The original 49 engines were built in Darlington and Doncaster, in 1948 and 1949.

The first Peppercorn class A1 to be built in Darlington was 60130 Kestrel.

However, that train, and its 48 counterparts, did not survive after the discontinuation of steam.

The Peppercorn A1 locomotives were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line.

On February 7, the Talisman will depart from Darlington at about 7.45am and will pick up passengers in York on the way to London King’s Cross.

Tornado will stay in London and the Talisman will return to the North-East under modern traction leaving King’s Cross at 6pm.

Prior to pulling the Talisman to London, Tornado is also making two trips along the East Coast Main Line for its covenantors and the people who helped raise the funds that enabled it to be built.

On Saturday, January 31, and Sunday, February 1, the locomotive will make two return trips from York to Newcastle.

On the Saturday, it will leave York at 12.07pm and return from Newcastle at 4.34pm. On the Sunday, it leaves York at 12.56pm and returns at 4.56pm.

During both journeys the train, known as the Peppercorn Pioneer, will pass through Darlington and Northallerton stations.

Chairman of the trust Mark Allatt said: “Tornado entering main line service is the end of another chapter in the story of a project that many said could not be completed.”

Tickets for the Talisman on February 7, cost £79.50 (standard), £119 first-class (nondining) and premier dining tickets cost £175.

Tickets can be booked through Steam Dreams by calling 01483-209886. A free copy of The Tornado Story, worth £10, is available for everyone who quotes The Northern Echo when booking tickets.

Win tickets to travel by steam

TO win a pair of Premier Dining tickets, worth £350, answer the following question:

What was the name and number of the first Peppercorn Class A1 to be built in Darlington?

Send answers on a postcard or sealed envelope with full contact details, including address and telephone number, to David Roberts, The Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 1NF. Usual Newsquest competition rules apply.