The Swanage Railway has revealed that Merchant Navy locomotive 35006 “Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co” will take part in its Strictly Bulleid II event between this Friday and Sunday, 7-9 June – and will also run on the Railway during the following week.

35006’s appearance, alongside 35018 “British India Line”, which is also taking part in the Strictly Bulleid event, will be the first time that Merchant Navy locos have worked Swanage Railway services since the early 2000s.

The gala will include eight Bulleid Pacifics, the largest gathering of Bulleid Pacifics since 1967. It will include overnight running for the first time since 2003.

35006, which was built at Eastleigh locomotive works in December 1941, will then remain at Swanage Railway to run in service between Monday 10 and Friday 14 of June.

The loco, which was withdrawn in 1964 after travelling more than a million miles, will operate on all five days.

It will run alongside one of Swanage’s resident Class 33 Diesel locos on the Green timetable on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Railway points out that this will offer “a taste of what railway travel in the south was like as diesels rubbed shoulders with express steam passenger locomotives”.

Tickets for the gala are available from the Swanage Railway website.