Blooming Marvellous! TYSELEY’S VICTORIAN HIGH-SPEED TRAIN
THE High Speed 2 rail link, or HS2 for short, remains a hot - and often controversial - topic of discussion for the nation's media. The section linking Birmingham with London is set to open in 2026, promising A-to-B journey times of just 52 minutes between the capital and a brand new terminus at Curzon Street in the heart of Birmingham.
They say history has a habit of repeating itself, and where HS2 is concerned this particularly rings true. For it was at Curzon Street, on the very site of the new terminus, that what were arguably Britain's first high-speed inter-city trains used to operate more than a century and a half earlier, hauled by the pioneering London & North Western Railway (LNWR) 'Bloomers'.
And if that historical coincidence was not enough, by the time the first HS2 trains do finally run into Curzon Street, a fully operational 'Bloomer' re-creation should be up and running, too ... or at least it will ifTyseley Locomotive Works (TLW) has its way.
The fact that TLW is building a replica of one of James McConnell's 2-2-2s is not new 'news'.
Work on the Single began in 1986 and reached an advanced stage of construction, but later stalled owing to TLW's growing contract engineering business. However, after more than two decades on the side lines the 'Bloomer' project was relaunched in mid-2019 as the centrepiece of the TLW /Vintage Trains Pioneer High Speed Train project.
This ambitious scheme will not only see the 'Bloomer' completed, but will also include the construction of a two- or three-coach period LNWR train built to full main line specification, with aspirations to run
