Southern Railway Bulleid designed, rebuilt "Merchant Navy Pacific"
35027 "Port Line", built in 1948, rebuilt 1957.
Mike Esau
Mike Esau
"Port Line" was an earlier withdrawal, going to Barry scrapyard. Rescued and overhauled by the Port Line group, it became the flagship of the Southern Locomotives Ltd fleet, who have a number of engines based at various sites in the South of England. It originally came to the Bluebell in 1988 after restoration for a short period of running in, but the welcome the group received persuaded them to stay a while. After only a few year, major boiler work was found to be required, and this was undertaken at Sheffield Park. "Port Line" then continued to run on the Bluebell until withdrawn for replacement of boiler tubes in June 1996. Once this work, and a repaint, was completed, a hydraulic test in September 1997 revealed further faults with the firebox, and so the loco, with only 9 months left on its insurance certificate, was laid aside.
Moving to Swanage (by then well established as the main operational base of Southern Locomotives Ltd) in early 2000, it was returned to service in November that year following further boiler work, and operated for a very resticted number of steamings each year until October 2003, when firebox cracks were found. With a firebox 27% larger than the Bulleid light pacifics, it was considered too large a locomotive for use on a preserved line, and with several light pacifics ahead of it in the restoration queue at Herston Works, it was sold in 2004 to Jeremy Hosking, and moved to Southall.
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