7 ms·

LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado

102 points by camtarn 4y ago

dxbednarczyk 4y ago
Feels like industrial revolution whiplash.
ggm 4y ago
Completed in 2008. It's 15 years old and already undergoing refurbishment.
- thaeli 4y ago
  That's the nature of steam. 15 year boiler recertification, which is effectively a refurb. Hours in service don't matter for those.
  - mocko 4y ago
    That's absolutely right but boilers aren't the only thing to wear out. With so many moving metal parts, despite an automated lubrication system delivering oil to most of the surfaces even the best designs of steam loco will shake themselves to bits before long. The regular expansion/contraction cycles as it's warmed up for work and cools down after also put a lot of stress on the metal. Sixty years ago refurbs would be much of the work going on at any large railway works - taking engines apart, stripping them down to the chassis and reassembling almost a new one in their place. The ingenuity today's preservationists demonstrate in doing this without any of the facilities of a plant is truly a thing to behold. (Source: some of my family restore steam engines. I once tried to drive one and I was terrible.)
    - Animats 4y ago
      > Sixty years ago refurbs would be much of the work going on at any large railway works - taking engines apart, stripping them down to the chassis and reassembling almost a new one in their place. Here's the process.[1] This had to be done every 120,000 miles or so, which is every 1-2 years. On top of that, there's a few hours a day of routine daily maintenance.[2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3AN-kd66g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3AN-kd66g
  - ggm 4y ago
    I should have been less terse. I only wanted to point out its 'old news' -but I love steam, and whilst I love prosaic diesel shunters as much, I do love steam. I wish they'd do something a bit more streamlined like "Mallard"
    - lmm 4y ago
      It would be sacrelige to some, but I'd like to see a new loco have a go at the steam speed record.
      - satiric 4y ago
        If all goes well, the new Pennsylvania T1 should be able to beat it. There are stories of the PPR T1's significantly beating Mallard's record, some say over 140 mph, but that the railroad was too busy to officially beat the record. See https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org for more info on the new Pennsylvania T1 locomotive that's being built.
- teh_klev 4y ago
  And the fun discussion in all railway preservation forums is...which is the truly representative Flying Scotsman? It's quite amazing how hostile those debates can get for a loco that in its life of non-preservation use was transformed so many times as an operational steam engine. It's the loco equivalent of The Ship of Theseus. Me? I don't care. It's a nice thing and I enjoy seeing it in whatever form it may appear as. Personally I like the tender that has a corridor from the first coach through to the engine plate. That seems quite nice for the driver and fireman to have delivered more than just some eggs and bacon cooked on dirty shovel :)
mocko 4y ago
Britain has a huge rail preservation community and a lot of their restored trains, many steam, make it out onto the main line. If you'd like to catch a glimpse of one or even book a seat on it, check out the calendar at http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/tours.html http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/tours.html.
- chanakya 4y ago
  Yes, they actually run at near main-line speeds in the UK (60-80mph). Riding one of those at that speed (particularly at night) must be an awesome experience.
  - mocko 4y ago
    It's very atmospheric, an absolute joy. But the best part has to be turning up at Victoria in the middle of the evening rush in an 80 year old steam train. The looks on people's faces alone are worth the price :)
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    I have done this as a child with my grandparents, but I'm not sure there's that much difference from an old/worn (less smooth) commuter train at a similar speed. For a child, I think a better experience is visiting a larger preserved railway. I liked visiting the locomotive works at Loughborough (Great Central) since age 8 or so I was shorter than the largest wheels of most locomotives. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back then we could walk close enough to risk getting grease on our clothes. From Google review photos it looks like it. (From the article, I'm still shorter! They're over 2m in diameter.)
  - fredoralive 4y ago
    It’s a bit pedantic, but on a fair chunk of the main lines trains can run at 125mph, so the 75mph limit for steam locomotives (barring Tornado, which can run at 90) isn’t that close. Various “box on wheels” trains like variants of the Turbostar and Desiro can easily outpace them, let alone real intercity trains. (Cue nostalgia of the heyday of steam, before all these limits where every steam express definitely managed to hit a ton at some point).
hnthrowaway0315 4y ago
We also need policies about steam engines!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
glinscott 4y ago
Steam engines are fascinating pieces of technology. The page for the trust itself is full of interesting engineering details: https://www.a1steam.com/ https://www.a1steam.com/. Their next project is to build Britain's most powerful steam locomotive, things are making good progress! Some high level details here: https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wales/design-development https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wale..., with a bunch more detailed updates on the build here: https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wales/the-build-so-far/construction-so-far https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wale.... Started in 2014!
- glinscott 4y ago
  Btw, some great books on Steam locomotives/engines: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ9JG2M https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ9JG2M - American steam locomotives 1880–1960. The author of drove locomotives, and was the transportation curator at the Smithsonian Museum. He wrote it over 30 years, and you can tell the amount of care and detail he put into with the details and history. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UYU1PC https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UYU1PC - How Steam Engines Really Work, provides a modern perspective on the important systems and concepts for steam engines. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072BFJB3Z https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072BFJB3Z - The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World. Talks about how precision engineering was critical to the invention and wider use of steam engines.
dhosek 4y ago
It’s not alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotives_of_the_21st_century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotives_of_the_21st_...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
justinator 4y ago
Kinda cool. Here in Colorado, a narrow gauge steam engine threw sparks and caused one of the largest forest fires in the State's history a few years back. Steam engine aren't (always) allowed on the line anymore.
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  I thought they addressed that by converting to oil burners. It's not just Colorado. When Union Pacific restored 3985, it was initially a coal burner. They lit a lot of grass fires until they converted it to burn oil. (I was uncomfortably close to one of them, and helped put out another one.)
  - justinator 4y ago
    Correct, on high-fire danger days, they run more conventional engines. I mean it's pretty sad in a way, as the train line is more a museum than anything else.
MisterTea 4y ago
what is interesting to me is they are building machinery designed before modern manufacturing methods and material science. Looking through another steam engine revival project they are using modern design methods and likely materials: https://www.a1steam.com/p2monobloc#/ https://www.a1steam.com/p2monobloc#/
blahburn 4y ago
Arthur Peppercorn is the most British name I've ever heard. Incredible.
WalterBright 4y ago
Of course the engineer's name is Peppercorn! Just what you'd expect from a Jules Verne novel about steam locomotives.
stetrain 4y ago
There is a similar project currently ongoing in the US for a new-build locomotive from original plans: https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/ https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  What are they going to do for the frame of that? IIRC, we can't cast frames that big any more.
  - satiric 4y ago
    If I recall correctly, it will be cast out of multiple pieces which will be welded together.
- glinscott 4y ago
  That's great. There is also this effort in New Zealand: https://mackwelloco.com/ https://mackwelloco.com/, focusing on "Modern Steam" techniques, with a small engine, targeting areas without easy access to diesel. A good overview of modern steam techniques is here: http://advanced-steam.org/5at/principles-of-modern-steam/ http://advanced-steam.org/5at/principles-of-modern-steam/, where they focus on dramatically more efficient and clean burning engines. A fascinating rabbit hole to go down :).
FearNotDaniel 4y ago
I particularly love this linked story from 2009 [0], buried in the Wikipedia article: "Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services were brought to a halt by the snowy conditions in south-east England." [0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8428097.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8428097.stm
myself248 4y ago
Wow, I looked it up on YouTube and it's quite a thrill just watching it go past. I can only imagine feeling the presence of the real thing.
sbisson 4y ago
It and others regularly go pat my home. It’s a great view!
hilbert42 4y ago
I'm a high-tech electronics person but I still love steam engines (and that's partly historical as my father was a mechanical engineer who worked on building power station boilers and I'm old enough to have traveled on steam trains as a kid when they weren't a novelty). That said, I'm concerned that the reawakening of interest in steam engines/trains especially in the UK may be the result of a hankering for the old days when Britain had an empire and its mechanical engineering output was the envy of the world. Of course, I hope I'm wrong and that interest actually runs deeper than just that. What ought to be important about this reawakening is that we have the opportunity to awaken an interest in kids about mechanics, engineering and science and do so from a very young age, and in my opinion, there's nothing much better than having them stand on a platform watching a hissing, noisy steam engine. Steam engines are visually exciting and interesting but they are also the combined embodiment of mechanics and thermodynamics and understanding both of them is the keyway to understanding science. Despite my electronics background I consider that a thorough understanding of thermodynamics is crucial to understanding the high-tech world irrespective of one's field. And I reckon there's likely no better way of starting kids' education in thermodynamics other than to have them engulfed in steam from a Puffing Billy.
- jonp888 4y ago
  There is no reawakening. Realistically, interest is slowly declining. Britain has had an extensive steam perservation scene for decades. It's just that the technology to do relatively affordable one-off designa nd manufacturing of steam locmotive parts that were formerly made in specialist workshops has only recently been feasible. That, and a combination of running out of original locomotives to restore, and worries that eventually the original locomotives will become too difficult to keep running indefinitely, has lead to a growth in new-build projects. There are now a large number in progress.
  - hilbert42 4y ago
    "Realistically, interest is slowly declining." OK, I have to take your word for that (I'm in Australia and haven't been to the UK for a few years). But it's certainly not the impression I get over here with the plethora of UK TV programs on steam, for instance: LNER 4472, Nigel Gresley, 4468/Mallard, vintage and current railways/trips and many, many others. It's almost impossible to go for a few days without seeing Michael Portillo on the box standing on a station platform, in a train carriage or pretentiously shovelling coal into some antique engine. When he's not on Rob Bell is waxing lyrically about the beauty of everything from 4472 to 60163 Tornado, to lighthouses, to railway viaducts; and in beween him and Portillo there's Chris Tarrant's Extreme Railways, Tim Dunn's The Architecture the Railways Built, not to mention Bill Nighy's The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys and any number of others. It's never-ending. So what on earth is going on in the UK if interest in engines/railways is waning? Mind you, I don't mind these programs at all but there are so many of them that they drive some people I know to whinge 'oh hell, not another *** train program!'
gberger 4y ago
"Peppercorn" made it to the front page twice today. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35134648 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35134648 is #21 at time of writing
- paulkrush 4y ago
  This can't be a coincidence! I bet it's even a fun strategy for some HN submitters.
  - yootyootr 4y ago
    Yesterday the news broke that the UK branch of the Silicon Valley Bank was purchased by HSBC for £1 under the so called "peppercorn" agreement, which is quite common to see in leasehold properties, business transactions etc. So not unsurprising that the word has stuck in people's minds and a flurry of interested related articles is posted the next day.
- andrewflnr 4y ago
  Yeah, I assumed OP was looking through the disambiguation page or somesuch for "Peppercorn". :)
  - camtarn 4y ago
    Ha! OP here; I hadn't even noticed that, and I read the article about peppercorn rent earlier. I got to here from a long wikitrail that began at a steam enthusiast friend's Facebook post. But perhaps the link caught my attention due to the previous article.
steponlego 4y ago
The originals were built for sixteen thousand pounds in 1948 and 1949. This recreation cost MILLIONS of pounds. Inflation is a heck of a thing.
ngcc_hk 4y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYBdP73izE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYBdP73izE Need to see it even though the footage is now a bit old. Well …
dboreham 4y ago
Beware the dreaded leaves on the line..
speedbird 4y ago
30 minute doc of 100mph run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fp8Gknm0w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fp8Gknm0w
daverol 4y ago
Nothing can beat an original - in this case A4 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ https://www.tiktok.com/@francis.bourgeois/video/7187077465028758790?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@francis.bourgeois/video/718707746502...
- gertrunde 4y ago
  They had an event a few years back (maybe a bit more than a few, 2012) at the NRM where all six surviving A4's were reunited for the 75th anniversary of the Mallard's record speed run, and the had the Bittern [1] doing some high speed runs. ("High Speed" in this case being about 92-93 mph). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4464_Bittern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4464_Bittern

102 points by camtarn 4y ago

dxbednarczyk 4y ago

Feels like industrial revolution whiplash.

ggm 4y ago

Completed in 2008. It's 15 years old and already undergoing refurbishment.

thaeli 4y ago
That's the nature of steam. 15 year boiler recertification, which is effectively a refurb. Hours in service don't matter for those.
- mocko 4y ago
  That's absolutely right but boilers aren't the only thing to wear out. With so many moving metal parts, despite an automated lubrication system delivering oil to most of the surfaces even the best designs of steam loco will shake themselves to bits before long. The regular expansion/contraction cycles as it's warmed up for work and cools down after also put a lot of stress on the metal. Sixty years ago refurbs would be much of the work going on at any large railway works - taking engines apart, stripping them down to the chassis and reassembling almost a new one in their place. The ingenuity today's preservationists demonstrate in doing this without any of the facilities of a plant is truly a thing to behold. (Source: some of my family restore steam engines. I once tried to drive one and I was terrible.)
  - Animats 4y ago
    > Sixty years ago refurbs would be much of the work going on at any large railway works - taking engines apart, stripping them down to the chassis and reassembling almost a new one in their place. Here's the process.[1] This had to be done every 120,000 miles or so, which is every 1-2 years. On top of that, there's a few hours a day of routine daily maintenance.[2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3AN-kd66g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3AN-kd66g
- ggm 4y ago
  I should have been less terse. I only wanted to point out its 'old news' -but I love steam, and whilst I love prosaic diesel shunters as much, I do love steam. I wish they'd do something a bit more streamlined like "Mallard"
  - lmm 4y ago
    It would be sacrelige to some, but I'd like to see a new loco have a go at the steam speed record.
    - satiric 4y ago
      If all goes well, the new Pennsylvania T1 should be able to beat it. There are stories of the PPR T1's significantly beating Mallard's record, some say over 140 mph, but that the railroad was too busy to officially beat the record. See https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org for more info on the new Pennsylvania T1 locomotive that's being built.
teh_klev 4y ago
And the fun discussion in all railway preservation forums is...which is the truly representative Flying Scotsman? It's quite amazing how hostile those debates can get for a loco that in its life of non-preservation use was transformed so many times as an operational steam engine. It's the loco equivalent of The Ship of Theseus. Me? I don't care. It's a nice thing and I enjoy seeing it in whatever form it may appear as. Personally I like the tender that has a corridor from the first coach through to the engine plate. That seems quite nice for the driver and fireman to have delivered more than just some eggs and bacon cooked on dirty shovel :)

mocko 4y ago

Britain has a huge rail preservation community and a lot of their restored trains, many steam, make it out onto the main line. If you'd like to catch a glimpse of one or even book a seat on it, check out the calendar at http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/tours.html http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/tours.html.

chanakya 4y ago
Yes, they actually run at near main-line speeds in the UK (60-80mph). Riding one of those at that speed (particularly at night) must be an awesome experience.
- mocko 4y ago
  It's very atmospheric, an absolute joy. But the best part has to be turning up at Victoria in the middle of the evening rush in an 80 year old steam train. The looks on people's faces alone are worth the price :)
- Symbiote 4y ago
  I have done this as a child with my grandparents, but I'm not sure there's that much difference from an old/worn (less smooth) commuter train at a similar speed. For a child, I think a better experience is visiting a larger preserved railway. I liked visiting the locomotive works at Loughborough (Great Central) since age 8 or so I was shorter than the largest wheels of most locomotives. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back then we could walk close enough to risk getting grease on our clothes. From Google review photos it looks like it. (From the article, I'm still shorter! They're over 2m in diameter.)
- fredoralive 4y ago
  It’s a bit pedantic, but on a fair chunk of the main lines trains can run at 125mph, so the 75mph limit for steam locomotives (barring Tornado, which can run at 90) isn’t that close. Various “box on wheels” trains like variants of the Turbostar and Desiro can easily outpace them, let alone real intercity trains. (Cue nostalgia of the heyday of steam, before all these limits where every steam express definitely managed to hit a ton at some point).

hnthrowaway0315 4y ago

We also need policies about steam engines!

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

glinscott 4y ago

Steam engines are fascinating pieces of technology. The page for the trust itself is full of interesting engineering details: https://www.a1steam.com/ https://www.a1steam.com/. Their next project is to build Britain's most powerful steam locomotive, things are making good progress! Some high level details here: https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wales/design-development https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wale..., with a bunch more detailed updates on the build here: https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wales/the-build-so-far/construction-so-far https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/about-prince-of-wale.... Started in 2014!

glinscott 4y ago
Btw, some great books on Steam locomotives/engines: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ9JG2M https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ9JG2M - American steam locomotives 1880–1960. The author of drove locomotives, and was the transportation curator at the Smithsonian Museum. He wrote it over 30 years, and you can tell the amount of care and detail he put into with the details and history. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UYU1PC https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UYU1PC - How Steam Engines Really Work, provides a modern perspective on the important systems and concepts for steam engines. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072BFJB3Z https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072BFJB3Z - The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World. Talks about how precision engineering was critical to the invention and wider use of steam engines.

dhosek 4y ago

It’s not alone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotives_of_the_21st_century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotives_of_the_21st_...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

justinator 4y ago

Kinda cool. Here in Colorado, a narrow gauge steam engine threw sparks and caused one of the largest forest fires in the State's history a few years back. Steam engine aren't (always) allowed on the line anymore.

AnimalMuppet 4y ago
I thought they addressed that by converting to oil burners. It's not just Colorado. When Union Pacific restored 3985, it was initially a coal burner. They lit a lot of grass fires until they converted it to burn oil. (I was uncomfortably close to one of them, and helped put out another one.)
- justinator 4y ago
  Correct, on high-fire danger days, they run more conventional engines. I mean it's pretty sad in a way, as the train line is more a museum than anything else.

MisterTea 4y ago

what is interesting to me is they are building machinery designed before modern manufacturing methods and material science. Looking through another steam engine revival project they are using modern design methods and likely materials: https://www.a1steam.com/p2monobloc#/ https://www.a1steam.com/p2monobloc#/

blahburn 4y ago

Arthur Peppercorn is the most British name I've ever heard. Incredible.

WalterBright 4y ago

Of course the engineer's name is Peppercorn! Just what you'd expect from a Jules Verne novel about steam locomotives.

stetrain 4y ago

There is a similar project currently ongoing in the US for a new-build locomotive from original plans: https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/ https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/

AnimalMuppet 4y ago
What are they going to do for the frame of that? IIRC, we can't cast frames that big any more.
- satiric 4y ago
  If I recall correctly, it will be cast out of multiple pieces which will be welded together.
glinscott 4y ago
That's great. There is also this effort in New Zealand: https://mackwelloco.com/ https://mackwelloco.com/, focusing on "Modern Steam" techniques, with a small engine, targeting areas without easy access to diesel. A good overview of modern steam techniques is here: http://advanced-steam.org/5at/principles-of-modern-steam/ http://advanced-steam.org/5at/principles-of-modern-steam/, where they focus on dramatically more efficient and clean burning engines. A fascinating rabbit hole to go down :).

FearNotDaniel 4y ago

I particularly love this linked story from 2009 [0], buried in the Wikipedia article: "Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services were brought to a halt by the snowy conditions in south-east England." [0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8428097.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8428097.stm

myself248 4y ago

Wow, I looked it up on YouTube and it's quite a thrill just watching it go past. I can only imagine feeling the presence of the real thing.

sbisson 4y ago

It and others regularly go pat my home. It’s a great view!

hilbert42 4y ago

I'm a high-tech electronics person but I still love steam engines (and that's partly historical as my father was a mechanical engineer who worked on building power station boilers and I'm old enough to have traveled on steam trains as a kid when they weren't a novelty). That said, I'm concerned that the reawakening of interest in steam engines/trains especially in the UK may be the result of a hankering for the old days when Britain had an empire and its mechanical engineering output was the envy of the world. Of course, I hope I'm wrong and that interest actually runs deeper than just that. What ought to be important about this reawakening is that we have the opportunity to awaken an interest in kids about mechanics, engineering and science and do so from a very young age, and in my opinion, there's nothing much better than having them stand on a platform watching a hissing, noisy steam engine. Steam engines are visually exciting and interesting but they are also the combined embodiment of mechanics and thermodynamics and understanding both of them is the keyway to understanding science. Despite my electronics background I consider that a thorough understanding of thermodynamics is crucial to understanding the high-tech world irrespective of one's field. And I reckon there's likely no better way of starting kids' education in thermodynamics other than to have them engulfed in steam from a Puffing Billy.

jonp888 4y ago
There is no reawakening. Realistically, interest is slowly declining. Britain has had an extensive steam perservation scene for decades. It's just that the technology to do relatively affordable one-off designa nd manufacturing of steam locmotive parts that were formerly made in specialist workshops has only recently been feasible. That, and a combination of running out of original locomotives to restore, and worries that eventually the original locomotives will become too difficult to keep running indefinitely, has lead to a growth in new-build projects. There are now a large number in progress.
- hilbert42 4y ago
  "Realistically, interest is slowly declining." OK, I have to take your word for that (I'm in Australia and haven't been to the UK for a few years). But it's certainly not the impression I get over here with the plethora of UK TV programs on steam, for instance: LNER 4472, Nigel Gresley, 4468/Mallard, vintage and current railways/trips and many, many others. It's almost impossible to go for a few days without seeing Michael Portillo on the box standing on a station platform, in a train carriage or pretentiously shovelling coal into some antique engine. When he's not on Rob Bell is waxing lyrically about the beauty of everything from 4472 to 60163 Tornado, to lighthouses, to railway viaducts; and in beween him and Portillo there's Chris Tarrant's Extreme Railways, Tim Dunn's The Architecture the Railways Built, not to mention Bill Nighy's The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys and any number of others. It's never-ending. So what on earth is going on in the UK if interest in engines/railways is waning? Mind you, I don't mind these programs at all but there are so many of them that they drive some people I know to whinge 'oh hell, not another *** train program!'

gberger 4y ago

"Peppercorn" made it to the front page twice today. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35134648 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35134648 is #21 at time of writing

paulkrush 4y ago
This can't be a coincidence! I bet it's even a fun strategy for some HN submitters.
- yootyootr 4y ago
  Yesterday the news broke that the UK branch of the Silicon Valley Bank was purchased by HSBC for £1 under the so called "peppercorn" agreement, which is quite common to see in leasehold properties, business transactions etc. So not unsurprising that the word has stuck in people's minds and a flurry of interested related articles is posted the next day.
andrewflnr 4y ago
Yeah, I assumed OP was looking through the disambiguation page or somesuch for "Peppercorn". :)
- camtarn 4y ago
  Ha! OP here; I hadn't even noticed that, and I read the article about peppercorn rent earlier. I got to here from a long wikitrail that began at a steam enthusiast friend's Facebook post. But perhaps the link caught my attention due to the previous article.

steponlego 4y ago

The originals were built for sixteen thousand pounds in 1948 and 1949. This recreation cost MILLIONS of pounds. Inflation is a heck of a thing.

ngcc_hk 4y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYBdP73izE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYBdP73izE Need to see it even though the footage is now a bit old. Well …

dboreham 4y ago

Beware the dreaded leaves on the line..

speedbird 4y ago

30 minute doc of 100mph run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fp8Gknm0w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fp8Gknm0w

daverol 4y ago

Nothing can beat an original - in this case A4 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ https://www.tiktok.com/@francis.bourgeois/video/7187077465028758790?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@francis.bourgeois/video/718707746502...

gertrunde 4y ago
They had an event a few years back (maybe a bit more than a few, 2012) at the NRM where all six surviving A4's were reunited for the 75th anniversary of the Mallard's record speed run, and the had the Bittern [1] doing some high speed runs. ("High Speed" in this case being about 92-93 mph). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4464_Bittern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4464_Bittern