Bulleid Pacifics

The Bulleid Pacifics remain one of the most iconic classes of locomotives in the history of Britain’s railways – a unique breed that delighted enthusiasts all around the Southern Region. With their distinctive shape and technical innovations, they are an ever-popular favourite of modellers and enthusiasts alike and continue to delight in preservation.

Oliver Bulleid’s Merchant Navy, West Country and Battle of Britain Pacifics had such relatively short lives, yet their performance feats over the switchback West Country hills, the Kentish boat trains, and the Bournemouth and Weymouth line still fascinate loyal enthusiasts and students of locomotive performance to this day.

Focusing here on the twilight years of the 1960s, and featuring a large number of previously unpublished images, long-time Bulleid Pacific aficionado Nigel Kendall shares some of his stunning archive images of these majestic machines in action.