A1 Steam Locomotive Trust

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a Darlington, England based charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of completing the next stage of the locomotive heritage movement, the building a new steam locomotive. This project became the construction of 60163 Tornado, carried out by Locomotive Construction Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the A1 Trust. After over 15 years of fundraising and construction, Tornado steamed for the first time in January 2008.

In contrast to various other heritage projects, with an eye to timely completion and full certification for main line use, the founding principles of the A1 trust were to treat funding as a priority and not a distraction,

By October 1999, the trust had the largest numbers of supporters of any British locomotive owning group, and represented a 20th of all railway heritage group membership.

History

The trust had its origins in an informal discussion in Darlington on 24 March 1990, discussing the feasibility of the project, followed by the first announced public meeting on 28 April that year, chaired by the first chairman,...
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