Why did 90MPH Tornado running fall through?

[Speed43125]

Evening all,

I was reading through this old thread earlier about the 100mph run by tornado a few years ago. I've since learnt that the A1 group failed to get tornado to pass certain NR requirements, even though they'd gone as far as thinking up MK.3 hauled sets to be used at 90 etc. Can anyone shed any light on what exactly criteria Tornado 'failed' on and what if any efforts were then made to get it to meet these subsequently?

Apologies if there's an existing thread that answers these.

 

[JonathanH]

It ran at 90mph on 14 April 2018 and had a significant failure on its first public run at that speed.

The Ebor Flyer and aftermath of Tornado's failure.

hi i have looked on real train times For the times but they are not showing Has anybody know the times mainly when going through Doncaster Neil

railforums.co.uk

 

[hexagon789]

It ran at 90mph on 14 April 2018 and had a significant failure on its first public run at that speed.

The Ebor Flyer and aftermath of Tornado's failure.

hi i have looked on real train times For the times but they are not showing Has anybody know the times mainly when going through Doncaster Neil

railforums.co.uk

And that failure had nothing to do with running at 90 vs 75.

 

[Wynd]

And that failure had nothing to do with running at 90 vs 75.

The middle valve stuck didn't it? Which led to the combo-link failing IIRC.

 

[43066]

even though they'd gone as far as thinking up MK.3 hauled sets to be used at 90 etc.

Mk3 sets might be the issue. Would anyone really want to be hauled by a kettle while riding in a Mk3?

 

[DarloRich]

Mk3 sets might be the issue. Would anyone really want to be hauled by a kettle while riding in a Mk3?

depends on your market and your offering

 

[43096]

Mk3 sets might be the issue. Would anyone really want to be hauled by a kettle while riding in a Mk3?

There were plenty willing to be so hauled when Tornado visited the GCRN.

A1 60163 Tornado & Intercity Swallow 47828 on the GCRN

Approaching Loughborough Jc

www.flickr.com

 

[43066]

depends on your market and your offering

The tours I’ve been on, the ambience on the train is as important as what’s doing the hauling! Surely it’s at least partly about recreating an experience from a bygone age. Mk3s might make sense when being hauled by the 87 on the WCML, not so much when being hauled by a 1940s era loco (I know this particular example post dates the mk3s by several decades, but the point remains).

I appreciate these things vary by person.

There were plenty willing to be so hauled when Tornado visited the GCRN.

The views of the loco are completely ruined by the trailers, in my view. What an absolute dog’s breakfast!

 

[DarloRich]

The tours I’ve been on, the ambience on the train is as important as what’s doing the hauling! Surely it’s at least partly about recreating an experience from a bygone age. Mk3s might make sense when being hauled by the 87 on the WCML, not so much when being hauled by a 1940s era loco (I know this particular example post dates the mk3s by several decades, but the point remains).

i take the point but is that the view of "normals"? If your target audience are fairly well healed patrons on a dinning train does it matter?

 

[43066]

i take the point but is that the view of "normals"? If your target audience are fairly well healed patrons on a dinning train does it matter?

I suppose not. Although I had also understood mk3s weren’t ideal for preservation/heritage use for other reasons due to their complexity, air conditioning etc.

Is 90mph v 75mph really such a game changer for access anyway?

 

[43096]

I suppose not. Although I had also understood mk3s weren’t ideal for preservation/heritage use for other reasons due to their complexity, air conditioning etc.

That rather depends what skills those who look after them have. If all they can do is bash things with hammer, then yes, they'll struggle. But Mark 3s have worked successfully for the last 7 or more years in preservation, with people who know what they're doing maintaining them.

 

[357]

That rather depends what skills those who look after them have. If all they can do is bash things with hammer, then yes, they'll struggle. But Mark 3s have worked successfully for the last 7 or more years in preservation, with people who know what they're doing maintaining them.

You hit the nail on the head

 

[notverydeep]

There were plenty willing to be so hauled when Tornado visited the GCRN.

A1 60163 Tornado & Intercity Swallow 47828 on the GCRN

Approaching Loughborough Jc

www.flickr.com

That's just wierd! It also partly answers the question - for some it is yes, as long as there aren't window bars...

 

[zwk500]

Is 90mph v 75mph really such a game changer for access anyway?

In places, yes. However it depends a lot on what else is around it. There are a good number of places where 60 is absolutely fine.
In the end a big reason the 90mph attempt hasn't been repeated is that there were numerous engineers restrictions/conditions related to running 90mph because of the Hammer blow and other steam loco specific effects that it made finding paths where 90mph was possible very hard. Whether these could have been loosened if 90 running became regular I don't know.