35028 ''Clan Line'' is a Southern Railway rebuilt Merchant Navy 4-6-2 class locomotive.

History

British Rail

35028 was built at

Eastleigh Works Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh, in the county of Hampshire in England. History LSWR The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened a carriage and wagon works at Ea ...

in 1948. After a few weeks running in, it was allocated first to Dover and then to

Stewarts Lane Stewarts Lane is a large railway-servicing facility in Battersea in London, England, founded by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1862, to serve London Victoria railway station. It is sited in the midst of a maze of railway lines ...

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 The ''Night Ferry'' was an international boat train from London Victoria to Paris Gare du Nord that crossed the English Channel on a train ferry. It ran from 1936 until 1939 when it ceased due to the onset of World War II. It resumed in 1947 ...

''. After rebuilding in 1959, it was initially allocated to Nine Elms shed, from where it headed such trains as the ''

Bournemouth Belle The ''Bournemouth Belle'' was a British named train run by the Southern Railway from 1931 until nationalisation in 1948 (with a break for the war until 1947) and subsequently by British Railways until it was withdrawn on 9 July 1967. The tr ...

'' and the '' Atlantic Coast Express''. While working the latter in 1961, it was unofficially timed at passing

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Ax ...

. On 2 July 1967, ''Clan Line'' hauled a farewell special from

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

to Bournemouth and back and thus ended its British Railways career.Clan Line comes of age ''

Railway World ''Railway World'' was an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. Founded by GH Lake in 1939 as ''Railways'', in 1940 it was taken over by JW Fowler and renamed ''Railway World''. It was sold to Ian Allan Publishin ...

'' issue 355 December 1969 page 521

Preservation

One month after finishing the farewell special, ''Clan Line'' was bought by the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society from British Railways for £3,850. The group had wanted 35022 ''Holland America Line'', but it was sent to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Barry Scrapyard), ...

scrapyard in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, before they could purchase it, so the group purchased ''Clan Line'' instead. ''Clan Line'' was one of the first preserved locomotives to participate in steam specials, and in 1974 hauled its first revenue-earning train in preservation from

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

to Westbury. Its sister engine 35022 ''Holland American Line'' was eventually rescued from Barry Scrapyard in 1986. In the 1990s, 35028 ''Clan Line'' was chosen as the locomotive to haul the Belmond British Pullman using preserved Pullman carriages, with tours around

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Bath and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In September 1994, it was the first steam locomotive in the United Kingdom to be fitted with air brakes. In the early 2000s, when the locomotive went for overhaul, LNER Class A3 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' took over those trains. As of January 2015, ''Clan Line'' is based at

Stewarts Lane TMD Stewarts Lane is a large railway-servicing facility in Battersea in London, England, founded by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1862, to serve London Victoria railway station. It is sited in the midst of a maze of railway lines ...

, Battersea. It returned to mainline operation in October 2006, when it resumed British Pullman duties and hauling the occasional enthusiast specials, although in 2012, the locomotive was used on a number of ''

Cathedrals Express The ''Cathedrals Express'' was a named passenger express introduced in 1957 on the Western Region of British Railways. It connected the cathedral cities of Hereford and Worcester to . The service started on 16 September 1957 and was operated s ...

'' trips, filling in for locomotives that were not available for the tours. 35028 ''Clan Line'' was the first Merchant Navy class locomotive to operate on the mainline in preservation. On 7 December 2018, ''Clan Line'' hauled the British Royal Train, taking the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

to Cardiff Central railway station.Prince Charles arrives in Cardiff by steam locomotive
''BBC News'' 7 December 2018

References

External links

{{commons category, BR rebuilt Merchant Navy class 35028 Clan Line
Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society web site
Individual locomotives of Great Britain Merchant Navy 35028 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1948