Merchant Navy Class 35028 Clan Line steams through the centre of Brixton

Seen thundering through the centre of Brixton last week was the magnificent sight of a steam locomotive pulling a long rake of Pullman carriages.

The steam engine was the Merchant Navy Class 35028 locomotive named Clan Line, which was built 76 years ago.

Wikipedia has more details:

35028 was built at Eastleigh Works in 1948.

 

After a few weeks running in, it was allocated first to Dover and then to Stewarts Lane shed in London, from where it worked heavy trains on the trunk routes to the South East Channel ports, frequently working the prestige expresses, Golden Arrow and the Night Ferry.

 

After rebuilding in 1959, it was initially allocated to Nine Elms shed, from where it headed such trains as the Bournemouth Belle and the Atlantic Coast Express.

 

While working the latter in 1961, it was unofficially timed at 104 mph (167 km/h) passing Axminster. On 2 July 1967, Clan Line hauled a farewell special from London Waterloo to Bournemouth and back and thus ended its British Railways career.

The engine was saved from the scrapheap by the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society, and hauled its first 1974 hauled its first revenue-earning train in preservation from Basingstoke to Westbury in 1974.

This charter train ran from London Victoria to Dover via Rochester and Canterbury East before arriving at Dover where it took on water for the return trip via Folkestone, Tonbridge and Streatham.

Close up of the loco

Here’s photos of the locomotive at Victoria station in 2010 (top) and 2007.

Brixton history

The above postcard shows a different loco travelling through Brixton in August 1949, with the Bon Marche building in the background.

Read more here: Steam engine thunders through Brixton station with the ‘Thanet Belle,’ August 1949