The Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society has announced that 35028 Clan Line has been pulled from tomorrow’s Belmond British Pullman train after cracks were found.

The cracks were found in the thermic syphons which are part of the locomotive’s firebox.

After discussions with the boiler insurers, it was agreed that work would be necessary to allow the locomotive to work trains.

This work, whilst already underway, has not been fixed in time and means it cannot work the train tomorrow.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the MNLPS said: “It is with regret and disappointment that we have had to take the decision to withdraw the locomotive from tomorrow’s planned British Pullman, a Belmond train, trip from London and around Kent. During a routine examination at the weekend following our recent trips and in preparation for tomorrows trip, our engineers discovered some minor cracking in the thermic syphons which are part of the locomotive firebox. We can re-assure all that the decision was not taken lightly but we put safety above all other considerations.”

If you would like to donate towards the work, you can do so on the MNLPS website.