60163 Tornado steams westbound out of Bath

A few months ago Helena organised a visit to a care home on the outskirts of Bath and I was going to be her driver. Nearer the time I was delighted to find that the famous new steam engine 60163 Tornado  would be on a day tour via Bath en route for Bristol. 

I checked possible vantage points and decided to go to the west side of Bath where the railway emerges from the town and follows the valley of the River Avon. There were quite a few other enthusiasts, with only some in anoraks, and when I arrived I heard the latest news that the train was delayed about fifty miles away in Newbury.  Apparently the water bowser, which is always need to replenish the source of steam, may have frozen on such a cold day.

I hung about and had my sandwich and a cup of coffee which I'd brought with me. The i went across the field which unfortunately had just been sprayed by the farmer with slurry which was very smelly.  I say unfortunately as the smell came has come back with me on boots.

I had done some test shots while I waited but the setting sun meant I should have checked my settings at the last minute as the light had changed. I've chosen this scene as the train emerged into the countryside on the high embankment building up speed as it reached a fast stretch of track.

But I also like the other two views I have added as 'Extra photos' which show a closer view of this fine engine. In case you didn't know it was built from scratch just a few years ago using the original blueprints of the A1 Peppercorn Pacific class of engine first designed in the late1940s.
I just found this Youtube clip which was filmed from a spot very close to where I was standing, so gives you the moving experience and the powerful sounds.

From the A1 Trust's website:
In 1990 a group of people came together to share an extraordinary ambition – to construct a brand new Peppercorn A1 Pacific.  They formed The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and after nineteen years of incredible effort that locomotive, No. 60163 Tornado, moved under its own power for the first time in 2008.