SR Battle of Britain Class No. 34081 92 Squadron

No. 34081 named "92 Squadron" is a preserved member of the Southern Railway's (SR) Battle of Britain Class. They were a series of 4-6-2 "Light Pacific" type steam locomotives designed by Oliver Bulleid to work over the restricted secondary routes of the SR and were all given names after the various personalities, aircraft, Royal Air Force (RAF) stations, and squadrons involved in the 1940 air battle during World War II.
== Operational History ==
No. 34081 was built by Brighton Works in September 1948. Like most of the members of its class, it ran for a few years pulling express trains without a name. This changed in 1950 when it returned to Brighton to have its name plates affixed for the first time although it never had an official naming ceremony. It was given the name of 92 Squadron after the famous Spitfire Squadron that took part in the Battle of Britain in the skies above Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.
No. 34081's working life came to an end in 1964 when it was withdrawn from service. In 1965 it, along with three other engines, were taken to the Woodham Brothers scrap yard at Barry in South Wales by convoy to await their fate.
== Preservation ==
In 1973 the Battle of Britain Locomotive Preservation Society was formed and in 1976 they had purchased No. 34081 from the scrap yard. The locomotive left Barry in November 1976 on a low loader.
It was originally planned to restore No. 34081 at the Dean Forest Railway, but negotiations broke down and the request to overhaul it at the Nene Valley Railway (NVR) was made.
After several years of working to restore the locomotive, the first static steam test on the boiler was completed in 1997. It was due to return to traffic soon after but these plans were put on hold as later that year thieves stole many of the non ferrous fittings from storage. However, thanks to the generosity of the owners of other Bulleid locomotives who had loaned spare parts whilst new ones were made, No. 34081 was able to commence trial runs in March 1998 when the locomotive moved under its own steam again. Later that year it began revenue earning work on the NVR becoming a mainstay of their locomotive fleet. 
The 1999 season saw No. 34081 run exclusively on the NVR but it would also go on to visit a number of other heritage railways over the years. In 2003 it was withdrawn from traffic with leaking firebox stays and was moved to Chatham Steam in Kent for major repairs which were successfully completed. It ran for a few more years in service but eventually withdrawn again for a major overhaul on its boiler. 
After passing its steam test, undertaking some test runs, and getting through its fitness-to-run examination the locomotive returned to service at the NVR in early November 2021 where it has continued to run ever since.
== Trivia ==
* No. 34081 is one of nine surviving members of the Battle of Britain Class in preservation.
* No. 34081 appeared in an episode of the 2018 documentary series "The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard".
* In 2023 No. 34081 was temporarily renamed from 92 Squadron to Royal Auxiliary Air Force to honor the Royal Air Force (RAF) for its work over the past 100 years.
== Gallery ==
File:34081-92-Squadron-on-the-turntable-at-Wansford.jpg.webp
File:Dsc 0126.jpg
File:‘Battle of Britain’ 92 Squadron (37458648051).jpg
File:5485-Polish-Tank-and-34081-92-Squadron.jpg
== References ==
* https://www.locos-in-profile.co.uk/Prints/Multi-image/Class_Nameplates/SR_BoB_92_Squadron.html
* https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/34081-92-squadron/
* https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/new-name-for-steam-locomotive-marks-100-years-of-volunteer-reserve-service-in-the-raf/
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Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:SR Battle of Britain Class
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