David Element's Railway Web Page 8 - Rebuilt Merchant Navy Class No. 35028 'Clan Line' Hauls the 40th Anniversary 'Waterloo Sunset' Special on 8th July 2007

David Element's Railway Web Page 8...

Steam Locomotives in Preservation

Rebuilt 'Merchant Navy' Class Locomotive No. 35028 'Clan Line' hauled the 'Waterloo Sunset' on 8th July 2007 in commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the end of steam on the Southern Region of British Railways.

35028 'Clan Line' blowing off steam at Salisbury

Rear view of 35028 showing preservation era tender modifications. The location of the air-brake behind the door at the rear is betrayed by a telltale wisp of steam. Another modern adaptation is the fire hose connector beside the ladders on the left hand side so that fire tenders may be utilised at the lineside. For the record the coal apparently now needs to be imported from Russia. Although the external shape and internal structures of the final series tender (No. 3342) have been altered these changes are subtle and they do not detract from the overall appearance of the locomotive. This tender spent most of its service life behind long scrapped 35021 'New Zealand Line' until it was allocated to 35028 in late 1965 (source: 'Locomotives in Detail 1 Bulleid 4-6-2 Merchant Navy Class', R. J. Harvey, Ian Allan, 2004 ISBN 0 7110-3013-8). Many of the original parts have been replaced during the 59 year history of this locomotive and it is worth remembering that this would have happened anyway even if she had remained in BR service. The tenders of the Bullied pacifics were frequently swapped about during their service lives and they have a history all of their own!

'Clan Line' looking very smart in the July sunshine. The locomotive has not received another coat of Brunswick green paint despite appearances, just copious applications of elbow grease!

The left-hand cast nameplate (with sandboxes for assistance with adhesion on either side as Bulleid pacifics were notorious for dramatic wheelspins on departure). The locomotive has two sets of plates, one painted red (as in late BR service) and the other black. The red looks much smarter. Only the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society (M.N.L.P.S.) members know which are the originals. The flag poles face the front on each side and the flag is that of the 'Clan Line' Scottish shipping company (known as the 'Scots Navy') which suffered significant losses of 30 vessels during the Second World War. The source of this information is Ian Coombe's Merchant Navy Nostalgia website: http://iancoombe.tripod.com/id5.html and the equivalent histories for 11 of the other Merchant Navy shipping lines after which these locomotives were named has been given on this very informative website.

Side view showing the speedometer attached to the rear left hand Bulleid Firth Brown (BFB) driving wheel. The sleek profile of this powerful locomotiove is shown to good effect from this angle.

Cab and copper pipework. Typical Southern express style headboard and route indicator discs.

After arrival in reverse at Poole - hence the red lamp. Imminent departure sans headboard - Waterloo-bound!

Water stop at Eastleigh and much discussion about performance. Out of shot are two elderly fire tenders. Perhaps the electric headlamps ought to have matched the route indicator discs, but their position is probably dictated by modern health and safety regulations.

Cab controls and a jovial (albeit very hot) crew member. Bulleid pacifics had very modern and comparatively comfortable cabs at the time that they were built. They even had electric lights. The cab windows were usually kept fully open and further ventilation could be obtained via the roof.

Shortly after arrival at Waterloo. A superlative non-stop high speed run barring a couple of speed checks on the way. For the technically minded, hand-held at 1/2 second at ISO-1600. The modern flashing red light is a mandatory health and safety requirement and no time was wasted in putting it on the lamp iron. It was nice to see a Nine Elms '70A' depot plate attached to the smokebox door.

A slightly faster shutter speed of 1/10 second - marvellous things, these modern digital cameras. For the record, 'Clan Line' hauled a load of 13 coaches and a dead Class 66 (66145) all the way from Poole to London reaching maximum speeds of about 75 mph on the long straight sections. A memorable day was enjoyed by those of us who were fortunate enough to travel on this wonderfully nostalgic journey and in particular by the photographer who watched the original No.2 Special depart from Waterloo on 2nd July 1967 (see below) at a time when he was too young and impecuniate to be able to afford any film. Many congratulations are in order for the crew and support team from the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society for producing such a splendid performance and keeping this locomotive in such fine order and also to Hertfordshire Rail Tours for persuading them to allow their locomotive to perform a non-Orient Express duty on this important anniversary.

The photographer witnessed this locomotive pulling one of the two 'Farewell to Steam' specials from Waterloo Station on 2nd July 1967 (scrapped sister locomotive 35008 'Orient Line' pulled the other) and he was delighted when this particular engine, always a favourite, was selected for preservation. In fact more than a third of the locomotives in this class are still in existance. Most of the survivors were early withdrawals stored at Barry Docks in South Wales and several lost their tenders before being purchased for preservation.

'Clan Line' was the final member of O.V.S. Bulleid's famous 'Merchant Navy' Class to be rebuilt by R. G. Jarvis in 1959. Despite retaining many original features (including a highly efficient boiler) the rebuilds were in essence very modern steam engines. The most obvious structural alteration was the removal of the air-smoothed casing (still present on the preserved unrebuilt Light Pacifics) and the rebuilds had an entirely different appearance to the original design. 'Clan Line' has performed exceptionally well on the main line in preservation. At the time of writing this locomotive has spent more than 40 years in preservation compared to a mere 19 years in service with British Railways.

35028 recently underwent its third major overhaul as a preserved locomotive (see Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society (MNLPS) website for details: http://www.clan-line.org.uk/ ). This organisation has performed marvels in maintaining the locomotive to such a high standard and the members deserve a considerable amount of credit for their efforts during the past forty years. Another 'MN', 35005 'Canadian Pacific' has seen regular main line use until recently and this locomotive has now clocked up over one million miles in service. For a while 'Canadian Pacific' was painted in British Railways blue livery. As this was only ever worn for a short period during the early 1950's on some unrebuilt members of this class this did not go down to well with the purists! Thankfully 35005, is now owned by the Mid Hants Railway http://www.watercressline.co.uk/ and this locomotive (repainted in a much more appropriate Brunswick green livery) is now a 'flagship' for this preserved railway. However, further running on the main line now appears to be unlikely. No. 35027 'Port Line' earned its keep on the Swanage Railway http://www.swanagerailway.co,uk until a recent change of ownership and this locomotive should also see main line service following a major overhaul. 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental S. N. Co.' should hopefully be operational before too long. 35029 'Ellerman Lines' is preserved as a cut-away exhibit at the National Railway Museum. The remaining locomotives awaiting or undergoing restoration are 35009 'Shaw Savill', 35010 'Blue Star', 35011 'General Steam Navigation', 35018 'British India Line', 35022 'Holland-America Line' and 35025 'Brocklebank Line'. 35022 has recently donated its boiler to 35027 and full restoration of this locomotive now seems to be an unlikely prospect.

A commemorative booklet entitled 'The Summer of '67 - Last Days of Steam on the Southern', Jeffrey Grayer, Kingfisher Productions, 2007, ISBN 978-0-946184-69-9 has now been published. This includes some excellent photographs taken in the south of England during the final year of steam on the SR. A DVD illustrating contemporary scenes from 1967 and also some footage of the 40th anniversary special events may be found inside the front cover.

USEFUL WEBSITES:

Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society: http://www.clan-line.org.uk/index.htm . Donations towards the maintenance of this locomotive are always welcome and the Registered Office is at: 12 Inglewood Avenue, Heatherside, Camberley, Surrey GU15 1RJ.

Hertfordshire Rail Tours: http://www.traintrips.co.uk

It should be noted that preserved locomotives undergo significant periods of inactivity for maintenance and the appearance of photographs of any particular example on these pages does not necessarily mean that it is currently operational. Newly restored locomotives may be used as replacements, locations or ownerships may change and if a locomotive undergoes a heavy overhaul it may be out of action for several years. This process is immensely expensive and labour-intensive and preserved railways always require significant financial assistance from visitors and benefactors, so any contributions towards the uptake of these marvellous machines will always be welcomed by their owners.

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