Bachmann A1 Class 32-550A
Built to a design by AH Peppercorn, the A1s were a class of express passenger locomotives and 49 were built at Doncaster between 1948 and 1949. They started to arrive in 1948, after nationalisation of the railways and, consequently, none appeared in full LNER livery. The first 36 locomotives off the production line were painted in LNER lined Apple green but with 'British Railways' on the tender sides. The rest of the class were painted Express blue and carried the early BR insignia. In August 1951, Brunswick green had replaced Express blue and the whole class had been repainted by the Summer of 1953.
The last of the class was withdrawn in 1966 and sadly none was preserved. However, the A1 Steam Trust was formed with the intention of raising sufficient money to build a new one from scratch and 60163 Tornado took to the rails last year.
Bachmann's model dates from 2001 and amongst the early versions produced was on of Tornado as it was assumed it would look completed. At that time the livery was unknown but the model was used to help raise money for the project. Following the completion and launch of the locomotive, Bachmann have released this model in the livery that was finally unveiled and with some retooling of the tender.