Original ‘BB’ nO. 34067 TANGMERE

Having led a fairly unremarkable existence for the majority of its working life, Tangmere made its one and only appearance over the S&D in April 1963, working a Southampton FA Cup special as far as Bath. No. 34067 spent the majority of its days allocated to the Eastern Section of the Southern Region before it was transferred to Salisbury in May 1961, then Exmouth Junction two years later, where it was almost immediately withdrawn. Among the earliest ‘Light Pacifics’ to be decommissioned, Tangmere unusually spent two years in storage before it was eventually taken to Barry scrapyard. The ‘Spam Can’ left Woodham’s in January 1981 for restoration at the Mid-Hants Railway. However, it wasn’t until 1995 that work to return No. 34067 to traffic was actually begun, and the following year, it moved to Ian Riley’s workshops on the East Lancashire Railway for completion. Exactly 22 years after it left Barry scrapyard, in January 2003, Tangmere returned to steam after an overhaul described as the most extensive carried out on a ‘Light Pacific’ at the time. The 4-6-2 made its inaugural main line run in March 2003 and was regularly seen at the head of charter specials until it was withdrawn in 2016 with firebox problems. No overhaul work has been done on Tangmere since, and it is currently stored out of service at Carnforth.