Rebuilt 'Merchant Navy' Class No 35028 'Clan Line' is shown hauling a Belmond Pullman set (including former 'Bournemouth Belle' and 'Brighton Belle' coaches, although the latter would never have been steam-hauled in BR days) to Bath on Saturday 27th April 2024. This was 50 years to the day after the first main line trip sanctioned for this locomotive on former BR Southern Region metals after the ban imposed (after the withdrawal of steam locomotives on 9th July 1967) had been lifted in 1974. The locomotive had just undergone a major overhaul by the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society, Leaky Flinders, and South Devon Engineering. A splendid sight, and observers on the road bridge were bathed in steam, creating a wonderful atmosphere. When the author watched 'Clan Line' departing with the No. 2 Special on 2nd July 1967, imagining that sights like this involving the same locomotive would have still been possible half a century later would have been beyond his wildest dreams!
29 апр 2024
