What improved?
The design uses three cylinders. Modern materials, manufacturing and safety equipment help a steam engine work on today’s railway.
THE ENGINE ROOM / 16
Small parts. Big discoveries.
A little steam. A clever machine. Let’s see what makes it move.
ON THE WORKBENCH4-6-2 · New-build A12008 · 4-6-2 · New-build A1
Explore the steam history timeline
3D MODEL
TornadoShown in apple green as No. 60163. The real engine has three separate valve drives. This teaching model shows piston and crank motion; the full reversing valve gear and small safety systems are omitted.
Drag to turn · Scroll or pinch to zoom · Right-drag or two-finger drag to panTap a part to discover it
Ready when you are
FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORD · 2008 · 4-6-2 · New-build A1
THE ENGINE’S STORYMeet Tornado
Tornado is a new steam locomotive, completed in 2008. Supporters and engineers recreated a Peppercorn A1 after all the original engines of that class had gone. Old drawings and new engineering skills brought the design back to life.
Original, replica or teaching model?
Read the source Shown in apple green as No. 60163. The real engine has three separate valve drives. This teaching model shows piston and crank motion; the full reversing valve gear and small safety systems are omitted.
How did life change?
Volunteers, donors and skilled makers turned a huge shared project into a working locomotive.
In the archive
Select a photograph to look closer. Captions distinguish originals, replicas and related examples.
New-build Peppercorn A1 No. 60163 Tornado.
Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0Archive record ↗
YOUR NEXT DISCOVERY
Look closer. Have a go. Find out.Think like an engineer.
Build a new steam engine
You are the workshop planner. Fit the parts in an order that lets the team reach every joint.
Choose a part to fit. Some jobs need earlier jobs finished first. Keep the motion accessible before lowering the boiler. This is a simplified workshop puzzle.
No timer. Try as often as you like. These puzzles explain ideas; they are not instructions for operating a real engine.