Eddystone arrives at Swanage

Photo report - dated 30th June 1999 - all photographs are copyright Andrew P.M.Wright.

The £300,000 plus restoration of a powerful steam locomotive that hauled trains on the London to Weymouth main line, as well as the pretty Somerset & Dorset route between Bournemouth and Bath, in the heyday of BR steam has made an important step forward - and an important piece of Purbeck railway history.

Rebuilt West Country class Bulleid Pacific No. 34028 'Eddystone' has been moved from a Kent farmyard to the Swanage Railway in Dorset as its £300,000 restoration by Southern Locomotives Ltd takes a major step forward.

The arrival of Southern Locomotives Ltd's second rebuilt Bulleid Pacific on Dorset's relaid Purbeck Line has also created a piece of railway history - 'Eddystone', complete with nameplates, being the first rebuilt West Country class Bulleid Pacific to be seen in Swanage since June, 1967 and the line's BR days.

'Eddystone' arrived at the Swanage Railway's road/rail interchange at Norden station just north of Corfe Castle on the late afternoon of Tuesday, June 22nd, 1999. The locomotive was then carefully hauled down to Swanage station by 1955 Brighton-built ex-BR Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80104, also owned by Southern Locomotives Ltd.

"'Eddystone' has been brought to Swanage to complete its restoration. The middle of a field in Kent is not the best place to do that but Brian Atkins and his dedicated team at Sellindge near Ashford has performed miracles in restoring No. 34028 to a rolling chasis," said Southern Locomotives Ltd spokesman Steve Kerley of Poole in Dorset.

"When restoration work has been completed on No. 80078 - our 1954 Brighton-built ex-BR Standard Class 4 Tank - in the Swanage Railway's Herston engineering works, hopefully the end of the summer, 'Eddystone' will be taken there by rail and road," he added.

For the Swanage Railway, 'Eddystone's triumphant arrival was the return of a sight not seen for 32 years. It was on Sunday, June 11, 1967, that the last West Country class Bulleid Pacific came to Corfe Castle and Swanage.

Then, No. 34004 'Yeovil' was on the Swanage end of an End of LSWR steam railtour organised by the Warwickshire Railway Society which started its journey from Birmingham and featured Mark 1 and Mark 2 BR blue/grey stock - the first and last time the latter was seen at Corfe Castle and Swanage. On the Wareham end of the railtour was Bournemouth-shedded BR Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80146.

No. 34028 'Eddystone' was rescued from the Barry Scrapyard in South Wales in 1986 by the Southern Pacific Rescue Group which became part of Southern Locomotives Ltd in 1995.

Because the locomotive came without a tender, a new one is now being manufactured by Southern Locomotives Ltd's team led by Dave Town at the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton near Bath.

Dave and his talented team were responsible for making the side water tanks for Southern Locomotives Ltd's ex-BR Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80078 currently approaching the end of its restoration in the Swanage Railway's Herston engineering works. The same team also made the coal bunker for Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80104.

Re-tubing has been completed on No. 80078, the restoration of which has been delayed by three months because of repair and maintenance work needed on valves and other items on Southern Locomotives Ltd's 1948 Brighton-built Battle of Britain class Bulleid Pacific No. 34072 '257 Squadron'.

No. 34028 'Eddystone' is the second rebuilt Bulleid Pacific to be restored by Southern Locomotives Ltd. The first was Merchant Navy class No. 35027 'Port Line'.

With 'Eddystone' now at Swanage, Southern Locomotives Ltd's other Bulleid Pacifics at Sellindge undergoing various stages of restoration are rebuilt West Country class 'Sidmouth', rebuilt Merchant Navy class 'Holland America Line' and unrebuilt Battle of Britain class 'Manston'.

Built at Brighton in April, 1946, by the Southern Railway, 'Eddystone' started hauling trains at Ramsgate, at the head of Kent coast services to Victoria and Cannon Street in London.

With nationalisation and the creation of BR in 1948, 'Eddystone' was sent to the West Country and Exmouth Junction to work the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle trains east as far as Salisbury.

'Eddystone' was rebuilt by BR - with its Bulleid 'spamcan' streamlined boiler casing being ditched - in August, 1958, after which it was transferred to Bournemouth, before being moved to Eastleigh in September, 1962. It was the first rebuilt Bulleid Pacific to be withdrawn and sent for scrap by BR in May, 1964.