Most of my interest stems from the fact that I grew up in the United Kingdom
and spent a lot of my youth on Station platforms train spotting. I still have
my spotters books from those days.The first picture is I think a rare sight as I do not
recall it happening very often in regular service of 2 Bulleid Pacifics together.
Thanks to Tony Pearce for this beautiful picture taken at the Bluebell Railway in Oct 2000.
Leading is Blackmore Vale 21C123 followed by 92 Squadron 34081.The only one that I recall
seeing in my youth was the regular double heading of a Bulleid Pacific and something else
(I think it may have been an L1) for the "Night Ferry" which went through Swanley Junction
around 8:40 am. The Bulleid Pacifics were certainly my personal favourite class.
The second and third pictures are from the Tony Dunkly's collection.
"West Country class Swanage" and a fine example of a "Schools Class Repton"
The next 2 were taken with thanks to use his pictures by Michael Taylor of the
"West Country class Blackmore Vale" in her original Southern livery.The next picture is
West Country 34034 "Honiton' taken at Bournemouth Central just before the demise of steam
in March 1967. Thenext picture is not a Southern loco but it has Southern connections.
O.V.Bulleid who eventually became the Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Southern before
nationalization of the railways on January 1st 1948, was the assistant to Sir Nigel Gresley
of the London North Eastern Railway and helped in the overall design of the streamlined effect
of the A4Pacific class by desighning the lower skirting, which I feel gave this loco a feeling of motion,
even when it was standing still. I have often wondered if working with Sir Nigel Gresley
had an effect on his WC/BB and MN Pacifics. I sure would like to know his opinion on streamling,
as on his locomotives he never referred to them being streamlined but Air Smoothed. What is also
so special about this loco is that it obtained the official world speed record for steam on
July 3rd 1938 and has still not been officially recorded that it has ever been broken to
this day by a steam locomotive !! What you don't hear of very often is the fact that after it had
reached 126 mph, damaged occured with the linkage breaking and she had to be replaced by a sister
locomotive so that the train could complete its journey. I wonder if this is one of the reasons why
Bulleid had developed a simpler form of linkage for his Pacifics ?? The last one is taken I think on the
Bluebell railway of a former South East & Chatham Railway Locomotive "C" Class No 592.
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