Record SIX Bulleids booked for Swanage gala
A RECORD six Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ will gather at the Swanage Railway for its ‘Strictly Bulleid II’ gala on June 7‑9.
The core of the line‑up will be a trio of Southern Locomotives Ltd’s ‘Light Pacifics’: Swanage resident rebuilt ‘West Country’ No. 34028 Eddystone, and air‑smoothed ‘Battle of Britain’ Nos. 34070 Manston (currently on loan from Swanage to the Mid‑ Hants Railway), and 34072
257 Squadron, with the latter temporarily returning to its nominal ‘home’ railway for the gala from the Spa Valley Railway, where it has been resident since late 2022.
Completing the roster are two more air‑smoothed Bulleids – ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34081 92 Squadron (from the Nene Valley Railway) and ‘West Country’ No. 34092 City of Wells (from the East Lancashire Railway), plus ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35006 Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co. The gala will only be the second time the ‘MN’ has visited another railway since it was restored to steam at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway in August 2015, the other time being a visit to the Mid‑Hants Railway for its 50th anniversary of the end of Southern Region steam celebrations in 2017.
The gala will be the biggest gathering of Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ since the Swanage Railway’s first ‘Strictly Bulleid’ event in spring 2017, which featured five:
92 Squadron, City of Wells and Manston, as well as ‘WC’ No. 34046 Braunton (running as No. 34052 Lord Dowding) and ‘BB’ No. 34053 Sir Keith Park. The latter may join the line‑up for ‘Strictly Bulleid II’ to increase the number of Bulleids to seven, provided its overhaul is completed on time. If it does attend, it will be the first time that four of Southern Locomotives’ Bulleids have run together in preservation.