No. 35010 Blue Star

Blue Star is a Merchant Navy class locomotive which was built by the Southern Railway at Eastleigh in July 1942. Designed by the Southern Railways innovative Chief Mechanical Engineer, Mr O.V.S. Bulleid, the Merchant Navys were an express passenger locomotive which had many novel features including a streamlined casing.

Blue Star was first based at Salisbury to work trains on the ex L&SWR Waterloo to West of England route. In 1946 it briefly returned to Eastleigh for trials in an attempt to prevent drifting smoke obscuring drivers vision. In 1950 Blue Star was transferred to Nine Elms (London) shed from where it would have worked Bournemouth line services in addition to those to the West of England. Blue Star was rebuilt in 1957 during which the streamlined casing was removed. The locomotive was then transferred to Bournemouth, it also worked from Exmouth Junction (Exeter) and Weymouth sheds before being withdrawn from BR service in September 1966. Blue Star was sold for scrap to Woodhams Ltd. of Barry where it arrived in March 1967. It was purchased by the British Enginemans Steam Preservation Society in January 1985 and moved to a private site near the North Woolwich Station Museum. The locomotive owners moved it to the Colne Valley Railway in 1996.