Darlington's locomotive project is full steam ahead

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, a registered charity that built, owns and operates world-famous steam locomotives, has been working on two the No. 2007 Prince of Wales and No. 60163 Tornado locomotives for over a year.

In June last year, the Trust placed a £1m order with Steam Locomotive Works in Meiningen, Germany, for two new Diagram 118 boilers for its two new steam locomotives, kept at Darlington Locomotive Works.

The order will supply the boiler for the Prince of Wales, and a ‘spare’ boiler for use on both locomotives, and enable the trust to rotate the three identical boilers over its two locomotives.

The Tornado has completed its first decade of operations since completion in 2008.

Firebox tubeplates, parts for both the Tornado and Prince of Wales locomotives which are being built by the The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. Photo: Christopher Wörfel.

This strategic move will reduce the time out of traffic for each locomotive by around four months, increase the potential revenue earned by both locomotive during each operational cycle and reduce the cost of their overhauls.

By ordering both boilers at once and leveraging the purchasing power of the supporters of both locomotives, the trust has saved a six-figure sum that would have otherwise been required if the two boilers had been procured separately.

The first new boiler – to be fitted to No. 60163 Tornado during its next overhaul – will be delivered during 2020 with the second – to be fitted to No. 2007 Prince of Wales – scheduled to be delivered in 2021.

Graeme Bunker-James, Commercial Director, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: “We are delighted with the progress being made by DB Meiningen on our two new boilers. With all the major pressings produced and boiler barrel sections rolled we now have a kit of parts ready to start the assembly of the first boiler’s firebox shell and boiler barrel.

“The decision to procure two new boilers fulfils a long-held desire to have three boilers for our two locomotives in order to reduce their time out of traffic during overhauls and act as an insurance policy.

Having a ‘spare’ boiler will greatly assist with the delivery of regular itinerary tours and ensure that we are a reliable provider of locomotives to our customers as well as our direct passengers.”

The funding of the boilers for the Prince of Wales is coming from The Boiler Club, which was launched in 2016 and raised £600,000 and gift aid from 300 supporters.

To date, over 190 supporters have subscribed to The Boiler Club, pledging around £460,000.

“The start of construction of the boiler for No. 2007 Prince of Wales is the next major milestone in the project to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive and its delivery in 2021 keeps the project on-track for completion within the next three years,” Mr Bunker-James said.