257 Squadron was built at Brighton Works and completed in April 1948. The locomotive was allocated to Dover shed, principally to work the Continental Boat Trains to London. One of its main duties appears to have been the Night Ferry. It also worked on local services between the Kent Coast and Charing Cross and on one occasion it worked over the Tonbridge to Redhill line, believed to have been a first for a Bulleid light Pacific.
257 Squadron waits to depart from Wadebridge
The electrification of the Kent coast lines in 1958 saw many of the steam locomotives transferred away from the area and 257 Squadron was moved to Exmouth Junction. This was the Southern Region's main shed for the West Country and 257 Squadron would have worked trains to Salisbury, Plymouth and to the Southern's many destinations in North Devon and North Cornwall. It seems to have been frequently photographed around Ilfracombe.
257 Squadron at Exmouth Junction shed
Its final allocation was in 1964 when it was transferred to Eastleigh from where it was withdrawn in October of the same year. The locomotive was sent to Woodham's scrapyard in March 1965 where it quietly rusted away for the next 19 years.
'One careful owner!' - 257 Squadron in Barry scrapyard
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