Press release -
Virgin Trains’ apprentices join “steam team”
Engineering apprentices from Virgin Trains are helping to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive.
The apprentices have been helping the team at Darlington Locomotive Works where steam locomotive No. 2007 Prince of Wales is being built at a cost of £5m.
Virgin Trains is sending apprentices to gain firsthand experience of working on the steam engine as part of a sponsorship agreement it has established to help the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust as it builds the class P2 2-8-2 ‘Mikado’ locomotive. The trust, which is well known for having built Peppercorn Class A1 locomotive No. 60163 Tornado from its original drawings, had asked the public to choose its next project.
Mark Allat, Chairman of the Trust, said: “With its elegant and unusual smoke deflectors, this big and beautiful design by Sir Nigel Gresley was the overwhelming choice of people polled. There were originally six of these locomotives which were built to haul up to 15 carriages on the arduous Edinburgh to Aberdeen route until a rebuilt version was scrapped in 1961.
“They were once the most powerful express passenger steam locomotives in the UK, and we’re using modern computer techniques to enable this new version to deliver its full potential to take passengers at high speed from 2021. We’re delighted that apprentices from Virgin Trains are now working with us to build No. 2007 Prince of Wales, a true inheritor to this route’s combination of speed and style.”
Michael Olley and Simon Nadolny, both 23, are usually stationed at Virgin’s Bounds Green Depot in London. As part of their apprenticeships in Electrical Mechanical Systems Maintenance Engineering, they work on the maintenance and repair of Virgin Trains’ electric 225 fleet, which is in daily service on its east coast route.
Simon, who is from Doncaster, said: “This week we’ve been getting down to basics, bending metal and hammering nuts and bolts into place, helping to install three large fabricated frame stays and assembling the smokebox lifting sheets. It’s been a real privilege and I’m proud to have played a small part in creating what will be the UK’s most powerful steam engine.”
Michael, from London, said: “It’s been great to have the opportunity to work in a different type of environment. The Trust’s approach to solving problems has provided really good insights which we can take back to the day job.”
John Doughty, Engineering Director for Virgin Trains, said: “While we look forward to introducing our new Virgin Azuma train fleet from 2018, it’s important to promote and preserve the history and heritage of our east coast route. Our sponsorship of the trust gives our apprentices the opportunity to experience a very valuable taste of the heavier side of railway mechanical engineering.”
Topics
- Art, Culture, Entertainment
Categories
- east coast
- regional news
- trains
About Virgin Trains:
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.
The combined network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
On the East Coast route, £140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. We have already invested £21m to completely revamp our existing fleet and customers can now benefit from 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London. 2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.
The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
Visit the Virgin Trains Media Room - virgintrains.co.uk/about/media-room - for the latest news, images and videos. Subscribe here for regular news from Virgin Trains.
Press Office: 0845 000 3333.
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust:
The P2 Steam Locomotive Company (P2SLC) has been established to build a new Gresley class P2 Mikado, No. 2007 Prince of Wales, at its Darlington Locomotive Works. Fitted with additional water capacity and the latest railway safety electronics, No. 2007 will be fully equipped for tomorrow’s main line railway. The Gresley class P2 2-8-2s were the most powerful express passenger locomotives to operate in the UK. They were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for the London & North Eastern Railway to haul 600 ton trains on the arduous Edinburgh to Aberdeen route. Six class P2s were built in 1934-36 but sadly the design was never fully developed and they were rebuilt by his successor Edward Thompson into ungainly 4-6-2s in 1943/4 and scrapped by 1961. The P2SLC is a subsidiary of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, (a registered charity), the builders and operators of world-famous new steam locomotive No. 60163 Tornado which was completed in 2008 – the first new main line steam locomotive to be built in Britain since 1960 and the first to be paid for by public subscription. The new Gresley class P2 will like Tornado be numbered as the next in the series – No. 2007. It is estimated that the new class P2 will cost around £5m to build over a 7-10 year period. As with Tornado, funds will be raised through regular monthly donations, donations dedicated to specific components and commercial sponsorship. For more details visit www.p2steam.com, email enquiries@p2steam.com or call 01325 460163.
