Tornado

EASTER SUNDAY

Happy Easter blippers.

It was a cold grey morning and the ice warning light was lit on the car dashboard as I headed over the tops to the Dark Side.

Once over the hill the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

I headed straight to Heywood Station on the East Lancs Railway to photograph the 10:30 arrival of the Tornado locomotive from Rawtenstall.

The Peppercorn Class A1 60163 “Tornado” is Britain’s newest steam engine. Built in 2008 the locomotive has featured in “Top Gear” and the 2017 feature film “Paddington 2”.

It's also the first locomotive to reach 100 mph in 50 years but was running at a more sedate pace on the 12 mile track from Rawtenstall to Heywood.

I thought about going on to Bury to see what was happening there - The Flying Scotsman and a classic motorcycle rally but in the end decided against it. 

The extra is the 10:05 diesel train from Heywood to Rawtenstall. It was photographed further down the line by NLN also as an extra.

Off to Leeds  now for afternoon tea.

More pictures here on Flickr.