WITH FULL REGULATOR LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW
DECEMBER isn’t generally a good month for pure steam locomotive performance but one train stood out as not to be missed, at least once the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s commercial director Graeme Bunker-James (GB-J) had confirmed that the‘Christmas Express’from Wolverhampton would be operated by DB Cargo as that operator does not tend to use diesel assistance.
In any case, leaf fall was nearly over after weeks of heavy rain and high winds and the load looked like being only nine coaches. We decided to miss all the first pick up points to join the train at Solihull at 9.20am. No. 60163 Tornado duly rolled in slightly early on a fine, dry morning.
The load was a respectable 10 coaches, including support coach and generator car for 367 tons tare and no more than 390 tons gross as it wasn’t full. In fact, for the first time in many years of travelling on steam-hauled charters, we were able to choose our seats and move sides to match the milepost change after Didcot. I wasn’t able to check who the engine crew were as we
