Steam locomotive 34067 Tangmere to pass through Lancashire this weekend - here's where to see it

Steam locomotive 34067 Tangmere will be back on the mainline tomorrow (Saturday, February 24).

What is it doing?

The engine will be hauling part of a Pathfinder Tours trip to Carlisle, which will first depart from Bristol Temple Meads behind a diesel locomotive. When it gets to Carnforth North Junction at 10.50am, Tangmere will be added to the train.

Where to see it

With Tangmere added, the locomotive will depart at 11:26am and will pass through Oxenholme Lake District at 11.42am, Penrith North Lakes at 12.21pm and Carlisle at 12.43pm. After time in Carlisle, the train will depart at 2.18pm and will pass through Appleby at 3.04pm, Garsdale at 3.50pm, Ribblehead at 4.04pm, Clitheroe at 5.13pm, Blackburn at 5.33pm and Preston at 5.54pm.

At Preston Railway Station the diesel locomotives will replace Tangmere and will return to Bristol Temple Meads.

The timings are approximate, and anyone wanting to track the train throughout the day can visit Rail Advent's tracking links here for more precise information on when it will pass through your local station.

Read about life as a Lancashire railway worker in the steam era here

History of Tangmere

Tangmere, named after the military airfield in Sussex, is a Battle of Britain class locomotive, completed at the Southern Railway’s Brighton works in September 1947.

Tangmere first worked out of sheds at Stewarts Lane (London), Salisbury and finally Eastleigh. After covering almost 700,000 miles, it was withdrawn from service on November 16, 1963. In April 1965 Tangmere was moved to Woodhams Bros scrapyard in Barry, South Wales.

Tangmere then moved to the Mid-Hants Railway in Hampshire for restoration in January 1981, however, most of the restoration has taken place in recent years at the Ian Riley engineering works in Bury. In 2003 Tangmere was returned to steam on the East Lancs Railway.

In 2016, the locomotive was withdrawn for boiler work and returned to traffic in October 2021. Tangmere’s main line duties resumed in January 2022 and it is owned and operated by the West Coast Railway Company from its base at Carnforth.