"Jules" wrote in message
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On Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:47:22 +0100, tony sayer wrote:
Whirlwinds or dust devils not prapper ones..

And anyone see her on Sunday nite?, surely the most beautiful mechanical
sight ever)))

That's the 'new' one, isn't it?

I was having this discussion with some folk a few months ago as to whether
anyone could even build a steam engine any more (albeit stationary stuff,
not locos) simply because a lot of the information from the era (in
particular the "tricks of the trade" which would have been handed down by
word-of-mouth) has simply vanished.

I'm not convinced that this loco quite counts as proof - weren't all sorts
of compromises made in the design and construction both on cost grounds
and to overcome various 'red tape' hurdles? (not that I'm in any way
saying it isn't a spectacular achievement! :-)

All sorts of "short cuts" were made in the original steam engines too.
They are still steam engines, as is Tornado.