CUTTING THE FRAMES STARTS FOR NEW P2
Published at 19:58 on Wednesday 21st May 2014
Tags: P2, P2 Steam, Tata Steel, New Build
Work gets underway on cutting the frames for the new P2 locomotive at Tata Steel, Scunthorpe. Richard Tuplin
The frames for new LNER P2 class 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales, which will be Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive when it is eventually completed, were profiled at TATA Steel in Scunthorpe on 21st May, the process started by Ben and Tim Godfrey, the grandsons of the designer of the original locomotives, Sir Nigel Gresley.
The 21-ton steel frames for the new steam locomotive, which will eventually weigh around 170 tons, are being built by the same team behind the construction of Peppercorn A1 class Pacific No. 60163 Tornado. The profiling of the frames marks the official start of construction, although the first component, the smokebox dart, was manufactured by TV presenter, James May, at Darlington Locomotive Works in February, and the frame plates were rolled last month.
The ‘P2s’ were designed to haul 600-ton trains on the arduous Edinburgh to Aberdeen route, but never lived up to expectations, and as a result the design was never fully developed and they were rebuilt as Pacifics in 1943/44 and scrapped by 1961.
The Project is building the seventh example, and construction is expected to take seven years and cost around £5 million. It is hoped that the design can be fully realised through use of modern computer design and modelling techniques, enabling the new ‘P2’ to deliver its full potential hauling passenger trains at high speed across today’s National Network.
Public interest in seeing the locomotive completed has so far proved to be high, with over 300 members of the ‘Founders Club’ each having given £1,000, and 350 people already signed up to the £10 per month covenant scheme since its launch two months ago. This means that the build has already received pledges of over £750,000 of the £5 million needed over the next seven years.
