Steam power rolls into London
Updated on 07 February 2009
Britain turned back the clock almost 50 years as a £3 million steam train chugged into London.
The Tornado, the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in this country for nearly five decades, steamed from Darlington to London's Kings Cross at the end of a week in which Britain's modern-day rail services have been severely disrupted.
The apple-green engine, which was built with donations from enthusiasts over 18 years, pulled the Talisman train into London half-an-hour later than expected due to electrical problems near Peterborough.
Stopping to pick up passengers in York - and to refill its water tanks there, in Retford and in Peterborough Yard - the steam train took more than six hours to complete the 250-mile route.
The journey was far longer than the regular 8am train operated along the same route by National Express East Coast, which was delayed by seven minutes and took less than half the time.
Hundreds of onlookers, many of whom had been waiting for more than two hours, crowded platform one at Kings Cross as the first steam train to enter the capital in more than 40 years arrived.
Passengers cheered and waved as the steam filled the roof of the station.
Many of its 500 passengers said they were delighted that they had chosen style over speed.
John Warren, one of the first people to step off the train, said the engine was "absolutely phenomenal" and that more steam trains should be running on our tracks.
Built by a team of volunteers over nearly 20 years the A1 60163 Tornado is the 50th Peppercorn class A1 locomotive all of which were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line.
The train, which is expected to become "as legendary as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard", can reach a top speed of 100mph and will enter traffic on the nation's main line network on April 18.
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