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The 34053 was built in 1946 at the SR’s Brighton Works and entered service as SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes were designed by Oliver Bulleidno [[UIC classification | 21C153]]. It was originally allocated to Salisbury MPD but also worked from the Stewarts Lane depot, where it hauled prestige services such as the CME of the Southern Railway (SR)Golden Arrow on many occasions. Lighter in weight than their sister locomotivesIn 1960 it was transferred to Bournemouth, where it often hauled the Merchant Navy class, they could be used Pines Express on a wide variety of routes including the Somerset & Dorset Railway. 34053 was withdrawn from service by BR in the south-west of England October 1966 and towed to [[Barry Scrapyard | Woodham's scrapyard]] at Barry the Kent coast. They were a mixed-traffic design, being used for both passenger and freight trains, and were rated 7P6F by British Railwaysfollowing March.

Originally built with innovative features including air-smoothed casings and chain-driven valve gear, many of the locomotives including <gallery>File:Sir Keith Park 34053 were rebuilt by British Railways (8426231585).jpg | 34053 at Barry in the late 1950s.1968 (Wikimedia Commons)</gallery>

[[File: 34053_20120919.jpg |thumb|300px|right| 34053's slide bars]]34053 left Barry in 1984. Evidence of her time spent there can still be seen today in the form of the words "Sold Mr Woodham" which are visible on the lower left slide bar. After various owners and lengthy periods in store, restoration was finally completed by [[Southern Locomotives Limited]] (SLL ) in May 2012at a cost of £773,000. Having no need of the locomotive at Swanage, agreement was reached for 34053 to come to the SVR for an indefinite period, with the agreement carrying a break clause every two years. The locomotive arrived at Bridgnorth on 10 May and during running-in pulled its first passenger train in 47 years on 31 July by assisting a struggling [[GWR 5700 Class 3650]]. It entered service on 24 August.<ref>[https://forum.svr-online.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2419 SVR Forum]</ref>  On 31 August 2013 a recommissioning ceremony was held at [[Kidderminster]] attended by three aircrew who served during the Battle of Britain and the New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Lockwood Smith. After some 'fine tuning' The return to [[Kidderminster]] saw the New Zealand High Commissioner on arrival the footplate. The ceremony welcome pack can be viewed [http://www.southern-locomotives.co.uk/News/SKP_Welcome%20Pack.pdf here]. In August 2017 the SVR announced it had mutually agreed with [[Southern Locomotives Limited|SLL]] that the option to renew would not be actioned at Bridgnorththe end of 2017, with 34053 moving to the Swanage Railway for the rest of the locomotive's certificate.<ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/34053-sir-keith-park SVRLive 23 August 2017]</ref> SKP ran her last SVR services on 2 January before winter maintenance works and her move to Swanage on 10 January 2018.<ref>SVR News 200</ref> 34053 entered service recorded a total of 41,405 miles in preservation on the SVR. The reported total may include mileage on hire to other railways while resident here<ref>SVR News 210, SVR-based Steam Locomotive Mileage 2017-2019, Duncan Ballard.</ref> SKP moved to the Spa Val;ley Railway in August 2012the summer of 2020. == See Also also ==[[Steam LocomotivesFormer Residents]] <br>[[List of preservation groupsSVR-based locomotives visiting other events]] ==References==<references />

[http://www.southern-locomotives.co.uk/ Southern Locomotives Limited website]<br>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_West_Country_and_Battle_of_Britain_classes SR West Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives on Wikipedia] {{SteamNavbox}}