PACIFIC POWER: No. 34072 257 Squadron became the third Bulleid Pacific to be hosted at the Spa Valley Railway since 2020 after it was unloaded on November 4 for use during the line’s Polar Express season. On November 13, Southern Locomotive Limited-owned 4-6-2 made four return crew training and one timing run before being disguised in its polar garb for the rest of the year. On its second trip of the day, the Swanage Railway-based loco runs round at Groombridge. No. 34072 will return to its usual identity for one Winter Steam Up weekend in January before leaving the railway.
DAVID STAINES