34010 Sidmouth – BR Service

21C110 Sidmouth, was built at Brighton Works by the Southern Railway in September 1945 and, following trials and testing on local duties around Brighton, the locomotive was allocated to Exmouth Junction shed in December of that year. Its duties at Exmouth Junction would have seen it operating over the Southern's North Devon and Cornwall routes as well as the the main line to Salisbury. It travelled to the town of Sidmouth to be formally named on 27th June 1946.

34010 Sidmouth

Sidmouth Leaving Waterloo in 1952
Photo: © Brian Morrison

Sidmouth was renumbered 34010 in the BR numbering scheme in January 1950. In 1951 (in the four weeks ended 7th April) it was transferred to Nine Elms for service over the routes from Waterloo to Bournemouth and Exeter. In February 1955 its cab was widened and remodelled with the angled front windows. Having run 578,944 miles it was rebuilt to the "Modified" form in February 1959 and remained a Nine Elms engine until September 1964 when it was transferred to Eastleigh.

34010 Sidmouth

At Victoria on 5th May 1959 at the head of a special train conveying the Shah of Iran from Gatwick for a state visit.
Photo: © J Lowe

We have been kindly offered several records of Sidmouth at work on the main line from Waterloo in 1964. SLL shareholder Malcolm Garner timed Sidmouth on a series of runs between Woking and Waterloo, details here.

Bryan Benn timed Sidmouth on a summer Saturday run from Waterloo to Wareham, details here.

Brian L Smith timed Sidmouth on two runs from Basingstoke to Waterloo, details here.

Thanks to the recorders for permitting their logs to be reproduced.

34010 Sidmouth

Leaving Woking for Waterloo, 30th August 1964
Photo: © Nick Thompson

The locomotive was withdrawn in March 1965 having run a total of 922,906 miles in BR service and sent to Barry Scrapyard to await its fate.