Tornado Project
The Tornado project aimed to complete the task of building the locomotive from scratch, with no recovered/restored parts, a feat never achieved in the preservation movement before, and not completed in Britain for a main line locomotive since 1960. This was considered by the trust to be the next logical step in the steam heritage movement, after the restoration of Standard 8P Pacific No.71000 Duke of Gloucester, which due to its final state, had involved building a large quantity of new parts.
Building an A1, based on the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 would fill the 'missing link' in the otherwise preserved examples of East Coast main line traction, such as the Stirling Single, Ivatt Atlantics, LNER A4, A3 and A2 Pacifics, Class 40s and Deltics, and more modern examples.
The original target date for completion was 27 September 2007, the 175th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, at a projected cost of £1.6m, with construction taking 10 years. With inflation and material cost increases, the actual spend has increased to £3m.
The trust has financed the Tornado project with a system of regular and one off covenants and industrial sponsorship, as well as negotiating generous terms from several manufacturers. Significant costs were saved in the project by securing parts from companies for free or at significant discount. The trust has also issued bonds to investors in return for financial contributions. Bond holders in return receive interest, and a repayment of the bond on maturity. By 2005 the trust's monthly income was over £10,000 and rising.
Read more about this topic: A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
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