Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Picture from last month http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5 ... =564740600

 

Has anybody heard anything about Boscastle or even a recent a picture of her?
Thanks

 

Boiler is at Williton, WSR

 

I assume the frames of the loco behind 34072 belong to Sidmouth. Any ideas how long her boiler will be at Bridgnorth? (if of course it is still there, havent been to the SVR for a fair few months)

And with regards to 34053's boiler, i assume that is also at Williton, along with 34039's.

 

I haven't heard about 34053's boiler being moved from Williton as of yet, so I presume its still there. Might be able to see it at the WSR gala if they are contracted to restore it.

 

I think youl find the frames behind 257 squadron are brand new frames for a bulleid tender presumealy for sir Keith Park

 

Couple of recent pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loose_grip_99/3114124316/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29126266@N00/3127605323/

 

Well said that man. A great pity that 34052 'Lord Dowding" didn't survive the breaker's torch.

 

Thanks for the pictures

 

I suppose at least its not 34109 Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory that survived scrapping, as not only did this individual hinder effective air defence by taking hours to set up his 'big wings' in support of 11 Group, but he was instrumental in getting Dowding sacked from his job as AOC, Fighter Command. Not a particularly nice chap, and it wouldn't have been particularly fitting for his name to be unveiled on the 70th anniversary...

Also, the commencement of 34039's overhaul has been quietly done, as the last I knew of 34039 until last month's revelation that the boiler was now at Williton was that her (ex-Merchant Navy) tender was behind 34007!

 

Absolutely; it will great if we can get Sir Keith Park in steam in 2010. Naturally it will be good to see Sir Archibald Sinclair back this year, but there's a funny thing about "namers", isn't there? In some anthropomorphic way they take on part of the aura of the person or thing they are named after, and it's widely thought that SKP was the main man when it came to winning the battle, and hence (arguably) WWII.

For those who want to know more, where better to start that than Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Sinclair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Park

On a broader note, someone could write a thesis on the loco naming policies of 1930's railway companies. It was mainly a British phenomenon, and each group had a different slant; SR: Arthurian Legend, Public Schools, local towns, recent history. GWR; Manor, Grange, Hall, Castle, King. LMS: Colonies, Patriots, Regiments, Royalty. LNER: er, mainly race horses and football clubs!

 

It's a good thing 34058 "Sir Frederick Pile" also survives, as his superb leadership, knowledge, and powers of persuasion turned what started out as an underfunded, very poorly-equipped, rag-bag of rejects from the other forces into a superb fighting unit that did as much to protect the skies of Britain as the glory boys in the fighters, but with little or no thanks from the government or people; they didn't even get the 1939-43 Campaign Stars awarded to all other commands, just the Defence Medal, which "any civilian who had endured three months of fire-watching" received. Their successes at shooting down the V1 flying bombs meant that very few of the total launched reached their intended target, and the work of scientists such as L.H. Bedford with A.A. Command led to enormous steps forward in the evolution of radar. Pile also went against much of the thinking of the time by strongly supporting the employment of women alongside men at gunsites, an idea considered repugnant by many of his peers. Needless to say, the "mixed batteries" were every bit as effective as their all-male counterparts.

It appears the Southern Railway were one of the few to appreciate their actions, as of course, 34049 "Anti-Aircraft Command" was the first of the "Battle of Britains".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Alfred_Pile

 

A few more photos of 34053 here:-

http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news500.htm

 

Nobody would deny the good work done by the brave men and women in Anti-Aircraft Command but I'm not at ease with your use of "glory boys in the fighters." I have been privileged to meet some WW2 fighter pilots who to a man never saw themselves as "glory boys" but simply as young men who had a job to do. The image depicted of them in wartime propaganda never sat well with them.

 

Apologies, I was of course referring to what we would now call their "media image", and no disrespect was intended.

 

Fully understand where you're coming from now James. It's the same as "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham. He loathed the nickname but it suited propaganda purposes to attribute his night fighter successes to exceptional night vision rather than the airborne radar that was obviously top secret at the tiem.

 

I wish quite a few had survived into preservation! Trouble is I don't think many preservationists got onto the band-wagon (So to speak) quickly enough!!

 

Keep end of 2010/early 2011 before 34039 Boscastle returns to steam, It's the overhaul has now commenced!!!!

 

Eh? There's more Bulleids "preserved" than just about any other class of loco so we don't exactly have a shortage.

 

I think 34007 is referring to the BB's potential as 'Memorial' engines, to commemorate the Squadrons/personalities etc. It really was a publicity masterstroke for the Southern to undertake this naming policy, as it really has long term implications. At the time it celebrated success and the role the south east played in the war, and now they act as roving war memorials. I realise the 'other' railways did this, but not so many of them have been preserved (I can only name 'Defiant' and 'Galatea', which was eventually sunk in the Second World War). There is also the factor that Bulleid provided most of them (not 34110) with a rather nifty crest in colour, something that does not feature on many other classes (apart from other Bulleids)!