One more post before bed. A tad fictional but adding it to the Dearnby Lore:
During the early years of WW2 the Southern Railway allocated many of it's locomotives to help the LNER and LMS compensate for their lack of locomotives available to handle goods trains and other war related services. However, this inadvertently left the SR with the issue of being unable to free up any of their Bulleid 4-6-2 Pacific Classes to other regions of the network. Dearnby was hit especially hard by this due to the rerouting of Troop Trains from Southampton and Liverpool in order to avoid targeting by the Luftwaffe.
As a show of gratitude, the LNER bent their own rules a bit and loaned the SR three of their P2 Class 2-8-2 Express Locomotives to work the long distance Troop Trains to Liverpool and Kent. Dearnby received No. 2007 "Prince of Wales" on May 29th, 1941 and it immediately was put into service.
Upon receiving the P2, the workers were surprised that the big express engine had already been painted in SR Malachite Green. Whether this was a practical joke or a preemptive decision, the workmen of Dearnby deeply appreciated the lightening of their workload!
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The P2 was repainted into Bulleid Sunshine Black the following year and served Dearnby well throughout the remainder of the war. Although Edward Thompson requested 2007 back in 1943 for reconversion into an A3/2, Dearnby managed to convince him to hold off until the war's end in 1945 before finally sending the Big Scottish Belle back home where she belonged.
During the early years of WW2 the Southern Railway allocated many of it's locomotives to help the LNER and LMS compensate for their lack of locomotives available to handle goods trains and other war related services. However, this inadvertently left the SR with the issue of being unable to free up any of their Bulleid 4-6-2 Pacific Classes to other regions of the network. Dearnby was hit especially hard by this due to the rerouting of Troop Trains from Southampton and Liverpool in order to avoid targeting by the Luftwaffe.
As a show of gratitude, the LNER bent their own rules a bit and loaned the SR three of their P2 Class 2-8-2 Express Locomotives to work the long distance Troop Trains to Liverpool and Kent. Dearnby received No. 2007 "Prince of Wales" on May 29th, 1941 and it immediately was put into service.
Upon receiving the P2, the workers were surprised that the big express engine had already been painted in SR Malachite Green. Whether this was a practical joke or a preemptive decision, the workmen of Dearnby deeply appreciated the lightening of their workload!
The P2 was repainted into Bulleid Sunshine Black the following year and served Dearnby well throughout the remainder of the war. Although Edward Thompson requested 2007 back in 1943 for reconversion into an A3/2, Dearnby managed to convince him to hold off until the war's end in 1945 before finally sending the Big Scottish Belle back home where she belonged.