This locomotive racing up Commondale may look like a relic of steam’s golden age, but it is in fact a modern creation.
It is the Tornado. Built not in the age of steam, but in 2008. A replica of the Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific, a type once common on Britain’s railways. All of the originals had been scrapped by 1966. Tornado is the only one of its kind to exist1Tornado History. North York Moors Railway. https://www.nymr.co.uk/tornado-history [Accessed 16 Sep 2025].
The story began in 1990. A group of enthusiasts, unwilling to accept the loss, formed the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. Eighteen years of effort followed. Eighteen years of fundraising, engineering, and sheer persistence. At a cost of £3 million, Tornado was finally completed.
The engine was named by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2009. Yet Tornado is no museum piece. In 2017, it became the first steam locomotive in over fifty years to officially reach 100 miles per hour on British rails. It has appeared on cinema screens in Paddington 2, and even on Top Gear — though I can’t say that’s a badge of honour!
More than a replica, Tornado is living proof that Britain’s steam age was not consigned entirely to the scrapyard. A ghost of the past, reborn for the present, and still thundering across the railways of today.
- 1Tornado History. North York Moors Railway. https://www.nymr.co.uk/tornado-history [Accessed 16 Sep 2025]
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