60163 Tornado 100mph charters?

[Fleetmaster]

Last I knew, a few years ago now I guess, the A1 Trust had succesfully tested Tornado on the main line at 100mph, and were planning to source their own Mk3 rake for high speed charters?

Anyone know the latest?

I have a big birthday coming up in a few years, and this has my name written all over it.

I was there for her unveiling in works grey, her mainline debut, her Royal Train and her visit to the NYMR. All as a lineside spectator. Something just didn't feel right paying good money to poodle along at what was always, for Tornado at least, third gear at best.

I'm as much an enthusiast of the engineering feat as I am the railway heritage.

I need the speed.

 

[E759]

The test run in 2017 where 100 mph was achieved was to gain certification for 90 mph running. Pretty obvious from that test that sustained 100 mph running is unachievable.

 

[zwk500]

As said above, the 100mph test was for the required 10% overspeed of 90mph which the A1 trust was looking for. NR decided to authorise the run to 100mph instead of 99mph because they felt it silly to poop the party for the sake of 1mph.

On a later test run from London to York, she dropped a rather serious bit of metal onto the four-foot of the ECML Down fast just south of Peterborough and couldn't be moved for a good couple of hours. I believe it later transpired that it was nothing to do with the speed and was a manufacturing fault, but it certainly made NR's performance people (and the A1 trust's accountants) somewhat jumpy and no such test runs have been authorised since. 60163 is now planned as a 75mph loco similar to a Duchess or an A4, and would require special permission to hit 90 again (even if it still says 90 in TOPS).

I believe part of the reason for a lack of 90mph tests is simply the availability of paths because at 90mph the loco is heavily restricted on which infrastructure it can use. Steam locos move about as the rods move up and down, and put considerable forces through the track in ways modern locos do not and so the engineers are cautious about allowing her out on track designed for much lighter trains.
Another part of it is simply that 90mph doesn't really help in many places, as you need clear track in front of you without holding up any 125mph trains behind you. It would help avoid being looped quite so often, but tbh given the amount of times steam tours end up pathed behind a stopper anyway the money needed to be spent for 90mph is probably better spent on other projects like ETCS or other locos.

 

[Fleetmaster]

Cheers for the info.

 

[43066]

On a later test run from London to York, she dropped a rather serious bit of metal onto the four-foot of the ECML Down fast just south of Peterborough and couldn't be moved for a good couple of hours. I believe it later transpired that it was nothing to do with the speed and was a manufacturing fault, but it certainly made NR's performance people (and the A1 trust's accountants) somewhat jumpy and no such test runs have been authorised since. 60163 is now planned as a 75mph loco similar to a Duchess or an A4, and would require special permission to hit 90 again (even if it still says 90 in TOPS).

Out of interest, who would have footed the bill for the delay minutes? I assume NR would have to swallow it rather than charging an organisation like A1 Trust.

 

[zwk500]

Out of interest, who would have footed the bill for the delay minutes? I assume NR would have to swallow it rather than charging an organisation like A1 Trust.

The Charter operator (in this case DB) pays for the minutes up to a cap, then NR. The cap is reasonably high, but is designed to stop tour operators going out of business at every failure. I don't know the exact amounts nor how it's all worked out over the year either. Whether DB send the A1 Trust an invoice for their portion I don't know. I do know this incident wasn't cheap, because I saw the NR Charter delay manager the next Monday and he was not happy with the A1 Trust for deciding to have a picnic at that particular location. Also, it was even less cheap because IIRC it was a GBRf Loco that eventually dragged the train into P'bro, so somewhere in the monopoly money the Emergency Purchase Order for that would have had to be factored in.