8th October 2024 “92 Squadron – From Rust to Renaissance” by Steve Lacey
On Tuesday, October 8th 2024, former General Practitioner Steve Lacey treated us to an evening of pure Bulleid-delight with the story of the Battle of Britain Class No. 34081 ‘92 Squadron’.
Opening with a review of New Zealand-born Bulleid’s locomotives, which included Merchant Navy 35011 ‘General Steam Navigation’ at Clapham Junction the Down Devon Belle, Q1 33034 at Guildford, Battle of Britain 34057 ‘Biggin Hill’ on the Thanet Belle and the unique Leander class 36001, Steve then covered carriages and experimental designs.
The clear lineage from Bulleid’s carriages into the British Railways standard Mark 1 carriage could be seen, and we also saw the somewhat controversial ‘Tavern Car’ and examples of the four-wheeled oil-fired train heating vans, used to pre-heat carriages. Steve’s coverage of Bulleid’s experimental designs included Booster Co-Co electric locomotive 20002, 500 horse power diesel-mechanical shunter 11001, Class D16/2 1Co-Co1 No. 10201 with its very clear influence of the later English Electric Class 40 and the novel Class 4DD double deck electric multiple unit 4001.
Turning then to 34081, Steve’s encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Bulleid came again to the fore as he described the locomotive’s history from building at Brighton in 1948 at a cost of £22,108 and its allocation to Ramsgate (74B) for Kent Coast services. On electrification of those lines in 1957, 34081 was transferred to Exmouth Junction (72A) and was withdrawn on 14th September 1964 after a tragically short 16-year lifetime. Interestingly, the only reference to be found regarding the naming of 34081 was in the May 1950 Railway Observer, which reported the naming as taking place at Brighton works in April 1950 without ceremony.
34081’s operational history on BR was well-illustrated with a variety of images at locations including Southampton Terminus, Grove Park, Ilfracombe, Exmouth Junction and Portsmouth Arms.
After withdrawal, 34081’s nameplates were given to the RAF’s 92 Squadron, then based at RAF Gutersloh in Germany and flying the English Electric F2 Lightning interceptor aircraft. 34081 was towed to Woodham’s yard at Barry on April 2nd 1965 to languish in the yard until purchased on September 27th 1973 by the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society for £3,850. During its time at Barry, 34081 had become separated from its tender, but the tender from West Country class 34028 ‘Eddystone’ was substituted and locomotive and tender left Barry for the Nene Valley Railway on November 6th 1976.
The long and costly process of restoration then began. In 1988 the boiler passed its inspection and the fire was first lit on December 1st 1997, after 33 years, reaching 250 lb/sq. inch. There was a setback in Christmas 1997 with the theft of non-ferrous metals from the locomotive, but notwithstanding, 34081 moved under its own power on March 9th 1998 and on May 23rd 1998 operated its first revenue-earning train since withdrawal.
In 2004, 34081 was transferred to the North Norfolk Railway, but sadly failed with broken boiler stays in April 2008 and returned to the Nene Valley Railway for repair in May 2010. The period from 2010 to 2017 was a second period of restoration for 34081, which Steve illustrated magnificently with detailed images of the boiler stays, grit blasting to remove paint, construction of the oil bath (Steve’s personal project) and the fitting of the central connecting rod.
Finally, after the fitting of 32 new superheater tubes, re-wheeling the tender and re-fitting the cab, 34081 passed its hydraulic tests and boiler inspection, returning to traffic in January 2017.
Since this time, 34081 has visited other railways (including the Severn Valley Railway, the Swanage Railway and the Mid-Hants Railway) and was re-dedicated to the current RAF 92 Squadron, now based at RAF Waddington as the training and tactics element of the Air Warfare Centre.
Steve concluded his presentation at 9.50 pm to great applause from the audience for such a rich and wonderfully narrated depiction of this magnificent locomotive and the treasured part it plays in the nation’s railway heritage.