Bachmann 32-550A Class A1 Tornado

Similar to assembling a Cadillac car with a brand chassis and body, the 60163 Tornado is a steam locomotive that looks like a locomotive that was built in the 1950s, but it was in fact made during the 90’s.

Why is it called Tornado?  With respects to the sponsor who gave £50,000, it was given the privilege to select the locomotive’s name.  As the coalition just won against Iraq during the first gulf war, it was decided to assign the locomotive a name to revere the Royal Air Force pilots who flew the British-made fighter aircraft also named the Tornado.  Thus, the name “Tornado.”

The RAF themselves had given the maker of the 60163 Tornado the nameplates bearing the name “Tornado” during the frame laying ceremony in January 1995.

In the 1990s, some individuals and institutions in Britain combined their resources to re-establish and give new life to steam locomotives in Britain’s preserved classic railways.  A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Locomotive Construction Co. coordinated and built the Tornado as part of the locomotive heritage movement.

The steam-powered Tornado is considered as past meeting the present because it is made in a modern time when diesel and electric trains are rulers of the railways.  But its cost did not come cheap.  When the project was still being planned, the initial expense for the Tornado was at £1.6 million but because of rising costs brought by inflation and price increases, the cost almost doubled at £3 million and the dateof completion was moved back by two years.

The Tornado started its first test-run in July 29, 2008 at Darlington along Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire on the Great Central Railway in Loughborough, a preserved double-track railway with working signals and intended to entertain tourists.

The Tornado’s velocity reached up to 121 km/h (75 mph) and being painted in apple green color made the Tornado a 21st century passenger train.  In January 31, 2009, the Tornado made its first run to transport passengers.  The cost to build the Tornado created debt for its makers and making it a passenger train is a way to be able to pay back those debts.

The Tornado’s speed is also restricted to just 140 km/h though it is said to be able to go as quick as 160 km/h.

The Tornado’s original color was grey and the tender’s logo on both sides originally have A1 Trust’s website painted on it.  As soon as the Tornado’s color was repainted to apple green to commemorate the locomotives in the 1940s, the tender’sinsignia became British Railways.

The National Railway Museum was the one in charge of painting the Tornado and they did it by using paint brushes and by hand in front of 500 people. 

Because of the the endeavor and the cost poured in the Tornado’s building, Bachmann trains has honored this new age classic in one of their limited edition model train collection.  The Bachmann 32-550A Class A1 60163 ‘Tornado’ has captured every detail of the life-size Tornado and a model trains collection will have an added value because of this.