One of the major attractions of almost all the many tourist railways in the UK and throughout the world is the continued use of steam traction. Most standard gauge lines in the UK use locomotives that were previously in revenue earning service, either with British Rail or with any one of a number of industrial operators. However, the newest of these locomotives is now more than half a century old, and the possibility of constructing replacements against such time as maintenance of the originals becomes untenable is being seriously considered.
A number of small, specialized engineering firms regularly build steam locomotives for narrow gauge and miniature railways, but the construction of an all new, main line steam passenger locomotive is a major project. It is pleasing to note, therefore, that there are a number of such projects in progress in the UK, with one already completed. These are the ones that the author is aware of:
New A1
Pacific 60163 Tornado
on the East Coast Main Line south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
After 18 years of effort, in 2008 the trust suceeded in its aim of completing the construction from scratch a modern replica of an A1 Pacific, designed by AH Peppercorn for the London & North Eastern Railway but ultimately contructed in 1948/49 by the then newly formed Britsh Railways. All the original examples were scrapped by 1966.
The new locomotive, 60163 Tornado, made its debut on the Great Central Railway, Loughborough in August, 2008 and has since operated a number of main line excursions.
Hawksworth County Class 1022 County of Northampton
This project was initiated in the early years of the 21st century to recreate a locomotive of the County class designed by FW Hawksworth of the Great Western Railway. The original design made use of components that were readily available at Swindon Works towards the end of the Second World War. These included frames from Hawksworth’s own “Modified Hall” design (a development of the Collett “Hall”) and boilers constructed at Swindon for wartime freight locomotives based on the Stanier 8F design. The first locomotive of the County class entered traffic in 1945. All were scrapped in the 1960s.
The 1014 Project is not strictly a new build project as it was intended use components from existing locomotives; however, the end result will recreate a locomotive of which no examples survive. The replica will use “Modified Hall” frames and the boiler of a Stanier 8F, from which the Swindon design was derived. A new set of wheels would be required, as these were slightly larger than those of the “Hall”. Many components have been obtained and construction work started.
An artist’s
impression by Colin Wright
of the new Patriot class locomotive, 45551 The Unknown Warrior
This project started in 2007 and, like Tornado, is essentially a project to build a new, working locomotive from scratch.
Many of the original Patriot class carried the names of regiments or of individual recipients of the Victoria Cross, and of course one of the locomotives was named Patriot, giving its name to the class. The new locomotive will carry the name The Unknown Warrior and will be dedicated as a National Memorial, with the full endorsement of the Royal British Legion.
Fundraising and build progress have been encouraging, and it is hoped to have the locomotive running by 2018, the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice.
An artist’s impression of the 5AT locomotive
The most ambitious of the projects aims to build a completely new design of steam locomotive, optimized for performance and efficiency according to the most modern principles introduced in the late 20th Century by the French designer André Chapelon and subsequently developed by LD Porta in Argentina and David Wardale in South Africa.
The project is still at a feasibility study stage, but benefits from a detailed set of Fundamental Design Calculations prepared by David Wardale. The dimensions of the locomotive are based on those of the British Railways Standard Class 5, itself a derivative of the famous Stanier “Black 5” design for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway. However, all major components and operating parameters of the new locomotive have been completely redesigned and this really should be considered a new design.
