Southern Railway Bulleid Pacific 34053 ‘Sir Keith Park’

History

Built at Brighton Works in 1947, the locomotive was dedicated by Air Vice Marshall Sir Keith Park, the locomotive’s namesake, on the 15th September 1947 at Brighton station on the same day as classmate 21C167 ‘Tangmere’.

Allocated to Salisbury MPD, 34053 spent considerable time on loan to Stewarts Lane depot, where it was recorded hauling the heavy Continental boat expresses, including the Golden Arrow on many occasions. Following brief spells at Nine Elms and Exmouth Junction, it returned to Salisbury in 1951, working over the entire South Western network. In November 1958, the locomotive was rebuilt, and its air-smoothed casing was removed. It returned to the Salisbury MPD.

The rebuilding solved most of the maintenance problems whilst retaining the excellent features of the original design. Repair costs were reduced by up to 60%, and coal consumption was reduced by up to 8.4%. A final transfer in 1960 saw it operating out of Bournemouth depot, and at times it traversed the Somerset & Dorset at the head of the Pines Express.

34053 was withdrawn in October 1965 and towed to Barry scrap yard in South Wales the following March. Its arrival was delayed by several weeks, as some connecting rods in 34053’s tender struck a bridge near Chandler’s Ford. The convoy of locos, which also included 76068, was left at the east siding of Romsey station for several weeks. 34053 arrived at Woodham’s scrap yard in Barry during March 1966.

Preservation

It was to be 18 years before 34053 moved on to the first step of its restoration. Charles Timms had bought the locomotive in 1979, but it was in June or July 1984 that it left Barry en route for the former Hull Dairycoates depot, arriving in November. It was the 153rd loco out of a total of 213 rescued from Barry. Also purchased was the tender of 35006, although it was sold to the Port Line project (which subsequently became Southern Locomotives Ltd) and was sent to Swindon, not Hull.

Tom Tighe supervised the work at Hull. The bogie and pony truck were removed and sent to Swindon in February 1988 for work to be carried out using the former Swindon Works wheel lathe. The boiler was also lifted from the frames for restoration. Several new parts were ordered and produced, primarily fabricated components such as running boards and smoke deflectors. Little work was done to the boiler or chassis at that time. Mr Timms died in 1992, and the loco was sold, along with available parts, to Dr John F. Kennedy. It was then moved to the Railway Age at Crewe during 1992 with the intention of early restoration.

Things didn’t work out as planned, and in 1995 the loco moved to Thingley Junction (west of Chippenham, where the Melksham line leaves the line to Bath). Little work was done on 34053 during this period, and it was ultimately sold to Jeremy Hosking for use as spare parts for Braunton. Afterwards, it was relocated to Bishops Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway in January 1997.

It was moved by rail from Bishops Lydeard to Williton on 22nd February 1997. During the summer of 1997, the boiler tubes were removed to assess the boiler’s suitability as a donor for Braunton; however, it emerged that Braunton’s boiler was the better of the two.

Southern Locomotives Limited

As Southern Locomotives was involved in contract work for Braunton, they were given first refusal to purchase the locomotive when it was deemed surplus to requirements. A generous purchase price, which included some parts which Braunton had not used, saw 34053 leave Williton on 22nd December 2000 to arrive at Sellindge on 28th December 2000. The transport company’s invoice read, “The remains of Sir Keith Park”.

Eventually, she was purchased by Southern Locomotives Ltd and was then moved to their workshop at Sellindge, where she arrived on 28 December 2000. After being sent to South Coast Engineering in Portland due to space issues in Sellindge, she was disassembled, and the long process of restoring her to full working order began. In late 2008, once fellow light pacific 34070 Manston had left SLL’s workshop at Herston, 34053 was transferred to Herston Works, where her restoration was to continue.

Because her original tender had been lost during her time at Barry Island, a brand-new tender had to be built for 34053, along with new tender wheelsets, tender frames, tank, and all the other required components.

34053’s restoration was completed in May 2012; however, because her originally intended home at the Swanage Railway had no use for her as they already had fellow SLL-based engines 34028 Eddystone and 34070 Manston both operational and running on the line, it was decided to base the loco for the foreseeable future at the Severn Valley Railway. Following weeks of testing and running in on the line, she entered service in August 2012. After having been withdrawn over 47 years earlier by British Railways and having been restored at the cost of £773,000, the locomotive looked magnificent, awaiting its recommissioning ceremony, adding to the list of the six other Barry wrecks they had restored.

On Saturday, 31st August 2013, a naming ceremony was held at Bridgnorth to re-dedicate the locomotive in honour of Sir Keith Park; the locomotive was re-commissioned by the New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Lockwood Smith. 34053 then went on to provide 5 years of reliable service at the Severn Valley before relocating south to the Swanage Railway in early 2018.

During the 2018/19 period, the locomotive was sent to Tysley Works, Birmingham, where it underwent a mechanical overhaul. Sadly, a pandemic arose, which left ‘Sir Keith Park’ exposed outside once the work was completed. An approach was made to the Spa Valley Railway by Southern Locomotives Limited to bring 34053 to Tunbridge Wells, initially for undercover storage.

We were delighted to welcome 34053 to our railway. When restrictions allowed, we reopened in 2021 and 2022, with 34053 hauling the majority of our train services until it was withdrawn for a boiler overhaul in May 2022. The overhaul took place, and the engine returned to service this time with the boiler from ‘Sidmouth’ at the Swanage Railway’s Strictly Bulleid 2 Gala in June 2024, after which the locomotive returned to Tunbridge Wells West.

A temporary name change took place in September 2024 as ‘Sir Keith Park’ became ‘303 Squadron’ to commemorate the Polish air force that fought in the Battle of Britain.

34053 briefly changed its identity in June 2025 to 34050 ‘Royal Observer Corps’ as part of the Spa Valley Railway’s Cuckoo Line Gala before reverting to 34053 ‘303 Squadron’. 34053, which will revert to ‘Sir Keith Park’ in September 2025, can regularly be seen pulling our trains.