34027 Taw Valley, SR West Country Class

34027 Taw Valley was built at Brighton Works in April 1946 as Southern Railway No. 21C127, one of Oliver Bulleid's original air-smoothed West Country class Pacifics. Initially allocated to Ramsgate working Kent coast expresses, she transferred to Exmouth Junction in 1947 where she hauled the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle on the challenging South Western main line to Plymouth. In September 1957 she was the second member of the class rebuilt at Eastleigh — the air-smoothed casing removed, chain-driven valve gear replaced with conventional Walschaerts gear, and boiler pressure reduced to 250 psi — giving a more reliable if heavier locomotive. Post-rebuild she worked Bricklayers Arms and Brighton commuter services before transfer to Salisbury in 1963, withdrawn in August 1964 and sent to Woodham Brothers' scrapyard at Barry, South Wales.

Rescued from Barry in 1980 by Bert Hitchen after sixteen years in the scrapyard, she moved to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, then the East Lancashire Railway, before arriving at the Severn Valley Railway in August 1985 — the first Southern Pacific to reach the SVR. Restoration was completed in October 1987 and she entered SVR service in June 1988, receiving a formal renaming ceremony on 4 June that year. She gained main-line certification in 1989 and ran extensive excursion work including the North Wales Coast Express.

In 2022 the SVR repainted her in a unique purple and silver livery and renamed her Elizabeth II (temporarily carrying the number 70) to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee — the name chosen by public vote from entries including Severn Majesty, Valley Monarch, and Gloriana, and receiving royal approval via the Cabinet Office. Hornby produced a limited edition of 1,500 OO gauge models in the purple livery, sold out within hours. Later in 2022 she was repainted into SR wartime matt black as 21C127, a livery no rebuilt West Country actually carried in service. Her boiler certificate expired in May 2024 and she is currently at Bridgnorth undergoing intermediate overhaul.

Location last confirmed: 2024, Severn Valley Railway.