better than eurostar

[WeeE]

Tacked onto a completely different story in the Grauniad:

"The first new steam train built in Britain for over half a century, the Tornado, rescued over 100 passengers ... the Tornado, constructed from the original A1 Peppercorn Class blueprints and paid for almost entirely by voluntary effort, chuffed magnificently from London to Canterbury hauling a Steam Dreams excursion train. On the way back, it collected stranded passengers and dropped them off at stations along the route."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/23/cars-stolen-icy-windscreens-essex

 

[John Ponting]

^ other than the open fire underground and the large quantities of carbon monoxide there is no reason why it couldn't go through the tunnel.


As a child of the steam age I watched Tornado go through our station recently - I cried 'till the smoke left my eyes. But it was fun to see it.

 

[661-Pete]

Now that's what I call a train! I remember when, as a kid, train journeys were exciting happenings. Mind you, I wasn't bowled-over crazy about steam on our local lines, when it was commonplace: it was just one of the several sorts of train power. I wish, now, I'd paid more attention.

But I remember, in my schooldays and commuting by (mostly electric) train, with my almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the train timetables I'd know exactly when a steamer had gone through the (local) tunnel immediately before my train. So I knew when to shut the windows. Otherwise...

I do recall being taken as a kid with my parents, on the motorail across France down to Lyon. One of the longest train journeys of my childhood. I remember watching in excited awe, just as we were boarding the train at Calais, the huge pair of steam locos (double-headed) coupling up to the train ready for the first leg (were replaced with electric further down the line). Oh to be young again!

 

[WeeE]

Last working steam train I saw (from the window of another train) was the winter of 93/4 in Poland. And it looked incredibly tall - actually like a double-decker. I thought I was seeing things.