The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has announced a delay to the mainline return of A1 No. 60163 Tornado.

Tornado is coming to the end of a complex overhaul and has been running in at the Great Central Railway, including passenger running days.

60mph test runs were completed but it was found that the locomotive had a warped fire grate component. The trust says this is a relatively simple repair, but requires the fire to be dropped so the firebox can cool down to allow fitters to make the repair.

The repairs, which are also taking place on other minor defects, mean the locomotive has lost valuable running in miles.

Additionally, Tornado is being fitted with digital signalling and part of that work has included a change to the braking system. A black box data recorder has also been installed but during testing, some problems became apparent and fixing this would be too close for comfort to the 21st September.

Rather than postpone to a future date, the trust has decided to cancel the tour and issue refunds.

One of the main reasons is that as we enter autumn and winter, the days draw shorter and the trust would not want passengers to miss the incredible scenery with a large amount of the day being in dark.

Focus is now on more mileage accumulation runs ahead of a mainline test run.

The plan is for Tornado to move to Tyseley next week and a plan has been agreed with Network Rail for test runs to take place in late September / early October and these should be completed before moving to the Nene Valley Railway in October.