New steam loco arrives for tests

The loco made its first self-powered journey in Darlington

The first mainline steam engine built in the UK for almost 50 years has arrived for tests in Leicestershire.

The project to build the 72ft (22m) Tornado engine took the Darlington-based A1 Steam Locomotive Trust 18 years and £3m to complete.

It arrived at the Great Central Railway (GCR) in Loughborough for mainline trials on Wednesday, after a journey on a low loader from County Durham.

Once fully certified it will haul charter trains.

It will spend the first part of its stay "stretching its wheels" and being run-in, including running by itself, then hauling empty passenger carriages before finally pulling passenger trains.

The GCR is the UK's only double-track mainline heritage railway.

Bruce Pollard, GCR's commercial manager, said: "We couldn't be more excited.

"Judging by the number of phone calls we've been getting about the engine, it's obviously something lots of people are waiting to see.

"However, the first step is make sure it gets safely off the low loader it is arriving on, on to our rails, ready to move under its own power."

Mark Allatt, chairman of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added: "After our stay at the GCR we're heading off for service on the national network, though we still need to raise £66,000 to finish the job and make sure the engine can pull trains at speed on the main line."

The loco is due to pull the first passenger carriages on 21 September.