There is nothing quite like a steam train! And there is no steam train quite like the Tornado! So when I had the chance to climb abroad I didn’t need to be asked twice.
The Tornado is the first steam train to be built in the UK since the 1960s, it was completed in 2009 with all new parts (apart from 3 bits) and so it actually testament to some really awesome old school British engineering.
She arrived in Cornwall a few days ago and since then has been causing a real stir not only with rail enthusiasts but amongst the general public too. After today I can see why! Lets face it everyone loves the romance of a steam train!
The sights, smells and sounds feel like a step back in time. Memories of a bygone era. And as one excited passenger told me today people develop an real affection for a steam train, almost as if they were a living, breathing things, in a way that they don’t for the more modern trains.
As we trundled along the track of the Bodmin and Wenford Railway today I have to admit I agreed with him. As I leant out the window, a trail of steam above me, wind in my face and soot in my eyes, I was wonderful to hear the Tornado puffing along.
And in my head I think I heard her saying “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I know I can” like the Little Engine that Could in my story book of my childhood!
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A couple of years ago I went on a steam train in Tasmania along rails what were once used for moving ore from mines. It now moves through the Worl Heritage rainforest wilderness – very picturesque. It certainly gives an idea of the difficulties of moving through terrain back then, even though it is a luxury tourist train now. It’s a very different experience to your ‘normal’ train. The driver’s apprentice was a woman, and now she is the driver. See http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/tour/westcoastwildernessrailway
Wow that sounds really amazing! I have been on steam trains in India and Africa, there is something so magical about that form of travel!
When I was a teenager my mother took us to the next town to watch the last run of the steam train. I have never forgotten how exciting it was to watch.