Tornado blows into the Great Central Railway

I really envy some of you, actually getting to see Tornado. I've lost count of the number of you who've phoned up and said that they've actually seen her! Please don't torment me like this - I'm desperate to see for myself!

I had an email from a very lucky collector recently, giving his account of Tornado's arrival at the GCR, and he's very kindly allowed me to post some of it to the blog.....

"Delivered to Quorn on a low-loader, unloaded first thing (which I missed) and then pulled up from Quorn to Loughborough by the diesel you can see in one of the pictures. Apart from being tanked up with water (which didn't quite go to plan!), she was just moved up to the shed; at which point I left."

".... it will be several weeks yet before she is pulling any sort of passengers, as I understand it, due to various testing requirements. I am hoping to take a ride in October though before she goes back off to Darlington or wherever."

I was even sent a few photos - I've included my favourite one here - but I will be soooo much happier when (and I mean WHEN, not IF) I get to see her for myself!

As far as I know, our "1st movement" covers aren't ready to roll yet, but hopefully they won't be much longer. They'll definitely be worth waiting for.

Best wishes,

Sarah

And another thing....................

As a PS to my last post (that sounds so final, doesn't it, "LAST POST"!), I've just been told about our new 60163 Tornado micro-site www.buckinghamcovers.com/tornado. I've just had a look at it and it looks fantastic - but don't just take my word for it, have a look yourself!

Sarah

News in on 60163 Tornado

Typical, I go on holiday and everything happens while I'm away!!

As many of you may have read recently, Tornado took her first movements under her own steam on the 2nd of August. We had covers carried on board (they've only just come back but they won't be ready for despatch for a little while yet).

We're also planning covers for the Great Central Railway Trials and Main Line Trials as well as a fund-raising set of 4 carriage labels. Details of these can be found on our website www.buckinghamcovers.com - go to our on-line magazine Cover Lover 35 and turn to page 7. There's a whole page of Tornado goodies to feast your eyes on!

There is enormous interest in this project, so we expect to allocate covers and sheets very quickly. I've already put my order in - don't leave it too late to place yours!

Best wishes,

Sarah