Bloomer

Bloomer is an LNWR Large Bloomer class tender engine owned by the North Western Railway. He is used on enthusiast specials along with two luxurious observation saloons.

Biography
Bloomer was built by Sharp, Stewart and Company in 1851. Prior to being bought by the North Western Railway, Bloomer ran on the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway in Scotland. Following withdrawal, Bloomer was thought to have been scrapped, until being discovered by Sir Topham Hatt in an old shed in Wigtownshire during the early 1970s.

The engine is rarely seen in public. Bloomer's last known outing was in 1975, when he attended the Shildon cavalcade celebrating 150 years of the Stockton and Darlington Railway following restoration.

Since the 1975 celebrations, Bloomer has been used on occasional special trains, usually along the Ffarquhar Branch Line.

Basis
Bloomer is based on an LNWR 'Bloomer' class 2-2-2, designed by James McConnell for the Southern Division of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). 74 Locomotives were built between 1851 and 1862 to three designs, all similar in appearance but differing in dimensions. Bloomer in particular is based on the Large Bloomers, which had 7' driving wheels. All of the Engines were scrapped between 1866 and 1888, with none surviving into preservation. Two replicas, however, have been built.

The first (numbered 1009 and named 'Wolverton') is a non-working replica which was built for static display outside of Milton Keynes station, however, it was moved to Wolverton Works in 2006 for renovation, before being moved to its current home at the Milton Keynes Museum on 3rd March 2017. The second (numbered 670) was begun at Tysley Works in 1986 and is intended to be a fully-working replica, however is yet to be completed.

Livery
Bloomer is painted in the LNWR's fictional Vermilion red with black and white lining livery. He has brass fittings and a copper-capped chimney. It is worth knowing that this livery, although elegant, is historically inaccurate and a rumour which Awdry might have believed, for the real life LNWR Bloomers were painted in Brunswick Green and Later Blackberry Black, although some members built in 1861 were briefly painted in a dark plum red livery.

Appearances
Railway Series=

Companion Volumes

 * 1976 - Railways of Sodor
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * -|Other Media=

Video Releases

 * 2021 - A Day on Awdry's Railway

Trivia

 * Although Bloomer never appeared in any stories of The Railway Series, he occasionally appeared on Wilbert Awdry's Ffarquhar Branch layout, where he pulled enthusiast trains.
 * Bloomer's model is currently on display at the Talyllyn Railway's Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at Tywyn Wharf Station.