SR 34027 Taw Valley
Contents
34027 Taw Valley in service
The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes were designed by Oliver Bulleid, the CME of the Southern Railway (SR). Lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the Merchant Navy class, they could be used on a wide variety of routes including in the south-west of England and the Kent coast.
They were a mixed-traffic design, being used for both passenger and freight trains, and were rated 7P6F by British Railways.
Originally built with innovative features including air-smoothed casings and chain-driven valve gear, many of the locomotives including 34027 were rebuilt by British Railways in the late 1950s.
Taw Valley was built in 1946 at the SR’s Brighton Works. It was originally allocated to Ramsgate where it entered service as SR number 21C127. The locomotive was re-numbered 34027 by BR following nationalisation.
In 1947 Taw Valley moved to Exmouth Junction, working mainly in Devon and Cornwall. Here the locomotive would have hauled named trains such as the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ and ‘Devon Belle’. In 1957, after being rebuilt, Taw Valley moved to the Southeast and worked commuter services from Brighton. Following transfer to Salisbury in 1963, Taw Valley was withdrawn from service by BR in August 1964 and towed to Barry scrap yard.
34027 Taw Valley in preservation
After being saved from Barry, restoration began elsewhere but was completed at the SVR, where the locomotive entered service.
While in service, Taw Valley ran on the main line as well as on the SVR. It sometimes ran numbered as sister locomotive 34045 Ottery St Mary, and also appeared as the ‘Hogwarts Express’ for a time.
Following a length overhaul, Taw Valley re-entered service on 16 May 2015, hauling an incoming "British Pullman" railtour consisting of 12 coaches and a Class 67 diesel from Bewdley to Bridgnorth,[1] and an SVR service from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster.
Sources
Service history from fleetsteam.co.uk
- ↑ I. Walker, "Steam Locomotive Notes", SVR News 190 (2015) p. 28