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A1 60163 Tornado - London to Edinburgh 'Top Gear' race April 25th

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baard

Posts: 43
A1 60163 Tornado - London to Edinburgh 'Top Gear' race April 25th - Posted: April 27, 2009 - 10:24 PM Quote and reply
Does anyone know what time Tornado achieved between Kings Cross and Edinburgh on this run, and more importantly, did it beat any previous steam records between the two cities?

Sadly it appears that James May won the race in a Jaguar (without using any Motorways). Jeremy Clarkson's blackened face after several hours on the footplate is a sight to see - see the link to Video below.

'' . wordwrap ('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKRNKaqxru4', 70, '
', 1) . ''

Was Tornado allowed 90mph for this run?
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29002

Posts: 1
Re: A1 60163 Tornado - London to Edinburgh 'Top Gear' race April 25th - Posted: April 28, 2009 - 10:38 PM Quote and reply
baard said:
Does anyone know what time Tornado achieved between Kings Cross and Edinburgh on this run, and more importantly, did it beat any previous steam records between the two cities?

Sadly it appears that James May won the race in a Jaguar (without using any Motorways). Jeremy Clarkson's blackened face after several hours on the footplate is a sight to see - see the link to Video below.

'' . wordwrap ('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKRNKaqxru4', 70, '
', 1) . ''

Was Tornado allowed 90mph for this run?



Unfortunately Tornado was not allowed to run up to 90mph, but it did achieve some long periods running in the low seventies and arrived on time in Edinburgh after 8 hours incliding three water stops.
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Geoffk

Posts: 1
Location: Westyorkshire, UK
A1 60163 Tornado - "Top Gear" race - Posted: June 23, 2009 - 1:22 PM Quote and reply
"Sadly it appears that James May won the race in a Jaguar (without using any Motorways)."

Surely James used the present day A1, which includes several sections upgraded to A1(M).

In 1949, the A1 road would have taken him through the middle of Doncaster, Darlington, Gateshead/Newcastle, and of course the Pacific would have had water troughs available.

Geoff

Geoff Kerr
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heatonj

Posts: 3
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Re: A1 60163 Tornado - "Top Gear" race - Posted: June 23, 2009 - 7:05 PM Quote and reply
Geoffk said:
"Sadly it appears that James May won the race in a Jaguar (without using any Motorways)."

Surely James used the present day A1, which includes several sections upgraded to A1(M).

In 1949, the A1 road would have taken him through the middle of Doncaster, Darlington, Gateshead/Newcastle, and of course the Pacific would have had water troughs available.

Geoff


True. The stated conclusion was that cars were better than trains even 60yrs ago. Pity they do not re-run the race with the most modern car at 70mph against a Class 91

John Heaton
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baard

Posts: 43
Re: A1 60163 Tornado - "Top Gear" race - Posted: June 23, 2009 - 7:39 PM Quote and reply
Am I not right in thinking that the fastest steam loco's could do the run non-stop without taking on water?

I also think that had Tornado been cleared to do 90mph - as planned for the future, it may well have been a different story - pathing permitting.

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