Raising steam

But not all steam enthusiasts confine themselves to pictures, models, train sets, or even the loving restoration of old trains to run on heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. For some, the best steam locomotive is a new one: and one is currently taking shape in Lincolnshire. It’s only the second mainline steam locomotive to be built in the UK since 1960; and the team on this project was in fact also responsible for the first: the Tornado, a revised version of the London and North Eastern Railway’s (LNER’s) A1 design, which went into service in 2008 and now runs on special services up and down the country.

The latest project for the team is another LNER locomotive: the P2, which was originally designed by the LNER’s then-chief engineer, Sir Nigel Gresley, in the early 1930s. The first, Cock o’the North, went into service in 1934. Gresley is best known as the designer of the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard, the steam speed-record-breaking locomotive, and its fellow A4 class engines. Although much less well known, the P2s had an equally special place in steam history: they were the most powerful steam locomotives ever built to operate in Britain.