Tornado

These guys get my vote big time as they are recreating Gresley classes that I thought I'd never see. Just got to make sure I'm still around to see them completed.

 

Errrr...... if you take the time to read the A1 WS you will discover that 80% of the funding for the tender is now in the bank, nearly £20,000 was donated towards it on Saturday alone. Yes, the scheme is ambitious but if main line steam is to have a future it is not only new locomotives that will be needed, it is coaching stock that is fit for purpose - comfortable, air braked, retention tank toilets, AC, WiFi and with 110mph capability (let's see who figures out why the latter is needed!).

Foxy

 

but what colour is it going to be painted?

 

The 90mph test runs were on the Great Western mainline so that must be a possibility. It will be dependent on which routes Network determine the infrastructure can take 90mph running. There was a 75mph restriction on a bridge on Stoke bank on the previous runs.

 

Wifi on a charter train? Pay a months salary or sell a kidney to sit in a plastic seat in an air-conditioned coach that is hermetically and acoustically sealed and then spend the time updating your facebook status or playing solitaire. Give me strength...

 

Haha, don't forget about updating your friends on NatPres!!!

 

Doubt it, everyone on here will be sat at home gnashing their teeth about the use of 'modern' Mk.3 stock which is 30 years older than the loco pulling it....

 

From the Tornado website:
The yet-to-be named new train will set new standards in a railtour market long dominated by difficult to maintain 60 years or older vehicles. As with all modern trains, it will be equipped with air conditioning, central door locking, controlled emission toilets, power at seat and persons with restricted mobility facilities. The passenger vehicles will also all be fitted with opening windows so those travelling can still experience the sound of Tornado working hard more clearly should they wish to do so and consideration is being given to equipping them with Wi-Fi.

Not quite sure how effective the air con will be, if the windows are open for passengers to hear Tornado working?!

 

Presumably the 110mph capacity makes it easier to plan tours that start in, say, London with a quick A/C electric hauled dash to somewhere provincial where steam then comes on for "the scenic bit"?

That said, I was a bit surprised at the assumption that Mark 3s would be easier to maintain than the "60 year old" carriages that are currently the mainstay of charter services - my understanding had been that a Mark 1 was more or less indefinitely repairable with fairly simple facilities, whereas the construction of a Mark 3 was such that bodywork repairs were a non-trivial business. So I can see the logic (and especially the desire to control the passenger experience - not a good impression or selling point for a premium service if you have a shiny new loco hauling tired rolling stock - but choosing Mark 3s as the starting point slightly surprised me. No doubt enhanced speed and also availability all fed into the decision.

Tom

 

And minute by minute updated GPS tracks showing exact (well GPS exact) speeds...

 

10/10 Tom! Also moving the rake between duties will be simpler. I think the decision to go for Mk3s was influenced by the anticipated ready availability of the type in large numbers (at low prices) as the ROSCOs struggle to find space for so much redundant stock in a year or two - having a site in Darlington will facilitate this. Since a good number of Mk3s will continue in fleet service, depots will be used to maintaining them and spare parts will still be available.

Foxy

 

Chickens coming home to roost for David Smith after alienating the A1SLT as well, perhaps. If this set comes about it the business case will surely be based on fairly intensive use and it will be the go-to set for tour operators. It will be a huge investment and one I can't see being replicated many times over.

 

Read the press release fully and you will see this quote, 'The passenger vehicles will also all be fitted with opening windows so those travelling can still experience the sound of Tornado working hard more clearly should they wish to do so…..' Doesn't sound that "acoustically sealed" to me and who says the seats are going to be plastic? Then again, it's NatPres style to knock something before it's even been created.

 

I nominate teak-effect vinyl for the carriages! (Hopefully, in a not-too-1970s Fablon stylee)

 

Opening windows in a Mk3. Really? Cannot see how that will work somehow. Will they have wooden droplights with leather straps as well or will they have the wind-down mechanism similar to the Maunsell open 3rd on the Bluebell??

Not knocking it all. Why would someone choose to be on facebook when paying a colossal amount of cash for a ride behind a steam locomotive in a Mk3 (with added droplights)?

 

And flock wallpaper for the interior.

 

Takes all sorts.

 

Silver vinyl anybody?

Or maybe Coronation/West Riding Limited two tone blue?

The latter looks very striking.

Sawdust.

 

Ooh, now you're talking.... actually, you can still get Rexine, which is what the original SJ set was covered in...

 

IMO that would only look right behind a "silver" A4 but it would certainly be striking.