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The ''Top Gear'' Race to the North was a three-way race between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorbike, and railway locomotive 60163 ''Tornado'' – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to Edinburgh, Scotland, a journey of around . Eighteen months in the planning, the race was filmed in secret on 25 April 2009, to be shown on 21 June 2009 on the UK's top rated motoring programme, ''Top Gear''. Dubbed A1 versus A1, the race involved ''Tornado'', based on the design of the 1949 Peppercorn A1 Class British Railways express passenger locomotives running on the East Coast Main Line, pitted against the 1949 models of Jaguar car and Vincent motorbike, both being restricted to using the A1 primary road, rather than the modern day M1 Motorway (because the M1 was not opened until 1959 ). After choosing their form of transportation out of a hat, car enthusiast Jeremy Clarkson chose to run the race on board ''Tornado'', leaving motorbike fan Richard Hammond to ride the Black Shadow, with Jaguar fan James May in XK120. The race was to be the centrepiece of the first episode in the 13th series of ''Top Gear''. No. 60163 ''Tornado'', although capable of over but restricted to , broke a number of records for preserved steam locomotive operation in Britain, including the first 'non-stop' all-steam-hauled passenger train from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in 41 years, and a first for the steam preservation era, the run having last been achieved by ''Tornado's'' fellow LNER Pacific type locomotive and national icon, No. 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'', on 1 May 1968, a few months before mainline steam on British Railways officially ended on 11 August 1968. ==Background== The contest was billed as the 21st Century ''Race to the North'',〔〔 as a multi-modal version of past railway races from London to Scotland. The term Race to the North had emerged in the 1890s with the various railway companies on the east coast and west coast main lines competing for passengers.〔 This culminated in the 1930s competition between the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) companies for the prestige of having the official fastest London to Scotland timetabled service, before the Second World War changed the priorities for the rail system.〔 The post-war late 1940s was an era of resurgence for the railways, driven by the newly nationalised entity British Railways, which attempted to regain some of the prestige of the pre-war competition between the private railway companies. Part of this was the creation of a non-stop passenger express train from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, timetabled at 6 hours 30 minutes.〔 Launched in 1949 as the ''Capitals Limited'', on from 29 June 1953 it was known as ''The Elizabethan'',〔 after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. The Peppercorn A1 class was never used on the original ''Elizabethan'' due to the lack of a corridor-type tender for crew changes on the move. The original trains were exclusively operated by the streamlined LNER A4 class. The race was specifically given a 1949 theme,〔 with the BBC postulating that the race might represent what ''Top Gear'' would have been like in 1949.〔 That year reflects the fact that the original 49 Peppercorn Class A1s were built in 1948/9, and accordingly, the bike and car selected were 1949 models.〔〔The Railway Magazine, July 2009〕〔〔 The motorcycle was a Vincent Black Shadow,〔〔BBC News, 18 June 2009〕 registration ''750 UXL'' (1952), the car was a Jaguar XK120,〔〔 registration ''SKE 7'' (1954).〔 According to the show, the XK120 and Black Shadow were the fastest car and bike in the world in 1949. Although ''Tornado'' is a brand new locomotive completed in 2008, her design was based on the original 1940s designs used for the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotives, with appropriate modern day changes for engineering, safety, operational and manufacturing cost reasons. The idea and much of the organisation of the race is credited to Graeme Bunker, managing director of railtour operator Steam Dreams and operations director of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the builders of ''Tornado''. 18 months before the race, Graeme had contacted the editor of ''Steam Railway'' magazine, who in turn suggested the idea of a race to the ''Top Gear'' producer.〔Steam Railway Magazine, Issue 363〕〔Motorcycle News, 15 June 2009〕 Graeme also contacted Jeremy Clarkson directly. The ''Top Gear'' producer's initial choice of locomotive was No. 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'', although due to her ongoing restoration at the National Railway Museum in York, ''Tornado'' was put forward as a suitable replacement.〔 The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust saw the ''Top Gear'' race as a way to introduce more people to ''Tornado'', following on from the publicity success of her being officially named by HRH The Prince of Wales, and the prestigious hauling of the Royal Train, bringing the locomotive to a new audience.〔 Until the run made by ''Tornado'' for ''Top Gear'', the last time a steam train had made a non-stop run from London to Edinburgh was in 1968, with a special charter run by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain (LCGB). The LCGB ran this special train on 1 May 1968, (returning on 4 May), to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first time this journey was made non-stop. On both occasions, the train was hauled by the famous locomotive, No. 4472 ''Flying Scotsman''.〔 In the preservation-era, steam locomotives had only recommenced departures from King's Cross in 1994, after a 30-year gap. The departure at the time was an ''Elizabethan'' train only as far as , hauled by No. 60009 ''Union of South Africa''.〔 In the following years, a goal of the preservation and railtour movement was to perform another all-steam-hauled train from London to Edinburgh.〔 This was to have happened in 2008 as ''The Coronation'', using two engines, one taking a London to York leg, and then another taking the train on to Edinburgh. The plan failed when, while stopped for water at Tyne Yard, an inspection of No. 60009 ''Union of South Africa'' revealed an over-heated axlebox, meaning the train was completed using diesel haulage.〔 With the successful completion of the run by ''Tornado'' for ''Top Gear'', she thus became the first steam engine to complete the run 'non-stop' for 41 years.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Top Gear Race to the North」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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