BRITISH RAIL CLASS 37

The British Rail 'Class 37' diesel locomotives, also known as the 'English Electric Type 3', were commissioned as a part of the 1955 British Rail modernisation plan. In total 309 were built, with the order split between English Electric's Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Darlington.
The Class 37 became a familiar sight in many parts of the British Rail network, for example, forming the main motive power for Inter-City services in East Anglia, within Scotland, and so on. They were relatively rarely seen on the more 'glamorous' main line expresses, but on secondary and inter-regional services they performed well for many years. The Class 37 is known by railway enthusiasts as a "Tractor" or "Growler", these nicknames derived from the similarities of the sound of the locomotive and a conventional Tractor.
In the 1980s many locomotives were refurbished, which has meant the Class 37 fleet is one of the longest surviving classes on British railways. However, the introduction of new Class 66 locomotives has meant many locomotives have been withdrawn or scrapped. The last few British examples are operated by EWS and Direct Rail Services, who retain small fleets, with several examples also operated by spot-hire companies. However, second-hand Class 37s have also proved popular in the export market, with some examples currently operating in Spain and France (serving the construction of these countries' high-speed railway networks).

Contents

Description

Sub-classes

Current operations

Direct Rail Services

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway

Eurostar (UK)

West Coast Railway Company

Trivia

Network Rail ERTMS project

Preservation

Fleet Details

References

External links

Description

The Class 37 locomotive was one of the most numerous of all the various types built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In total, 309 locomotives were built from 1960-1965, originally numbered in the range D6700-D6999 and D6600-D6608. The bodywork bears a strong family resemblance to the English Electric Class 40 and Class 23 'Baby Deltic'.
The Class was designed for both passenger and freight work and was as much at home hauling heavy goods trains as it was on passenger services (indeed, in 1966 the Western Region even tried modifying some of its 37s for 100mph operation). Many of the original locomotives were fitted with boilers for steam heating. With the withdrawal of many Type 2 and Type 3 locomotives in the 1980s the 37s were selected as the standard Type 3 and many of the fleet were given a heavy overhaul to prolong their life into the 1990s and beyond. Some were fitted with electrical train heating (ETH) equipment in the 1980s to become 37/4 sub-class, initially for use on the West Highland Line but later seeing use in other parts of the country.
A number of locomotives were rebuilt as Class 37/9 in the late 1980s to evaluate Mirrlees and Ruston engines for possible use on a new Class 38 freight locomotive. These 'Slugs' were heavily ballasted to improve traction and had excellent load-hauling capabilities, but the Class 38 (understood to be a 'modular' locomotive based on the approach that gave rise to the Class 58 and the unbuilt Class 88 electric loco) was never built.
The Class 37 has a relatively low axle loading for its size and power. With the withdrawal of most of the smaller types of diesel locomotive, this left them as the only mainline type available in significant numbers for lines with weight restrictions, and for a number of years they handled almost all locomotive-hauled services on the West Highland Line, the lines north of Inverness (Far North Line) and in parts of Wales.

Sub-classes

Sub-class	Description
37/0	Locomotives which remained unmodified after other sub-classes were created
37/3	Locomotives which were rebogied but not refurbished
37/4	Refurbished, rewired, main generator replaced by alternator, electric train supply (ETS) fitted
37/5	Refurbished, rewired, main generator replaced by alternator
37/6	Locomotives from Class 37/5 further modified with through ETS wiring and RCH jumper cables
37/7	Refurbished, rewired, main generator replaced by alternator, additional weight added
37/9	Refurbished, rewired, main generator replaced by alternator, new engines for evaluation

Current operations

Direct Rail Services

Direct Rail Services operate around twenty Class 37s. They haul nuclear trains, and during autumn have also seen use on sandite trains on behalf of Network Rail. DRS locomotives tend to be used in pairs as a precaution in case one fails en route.
DRS also have several more non-operational Class 37s, which are in store, or undergoing overhaul.

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway

EWS currently operates a small fleet of five Class 37/4 locomotives, currently consisting of 37405, 37406, 37410, 37417 and 37422. They are officially allocated to Toton TMD, but see much of their work in Scotland.
They retained some regular passenger duties into 2006. One was used on First ScotRail's Caledonian Sleeper service over the West Highland Line up until June 2006. Another was hired to Arriva Trains Wales for weekday peak hour use on the Rhymney Line up until December 2006.
As of January 2007, current work for the Class includes deputising for Class 67s on Caledonian Sleeper trains (between Edinburgh and Aberdeen); snowplough standby duties in Inverness and/or Aberdeen; and the 'Binliner' service, which carries compacted refuse from Edinburgh to East Lothian for landfill.
In addition to the above, EWS own a large number of non-operational 37s which are stored at numerous locations around Britain (plus a few in Spain following a hire contract). Many are considered suitable for re-activation at relatively short notice.

Eurostar (UK)

Eurostar (UK) Ltd. (at the time European Passenger Services) initially had twelve locomotives modified as Class 37/6, with the intention that they would haul international night trains over the non-electrified parts of their routes in Britain. However, these services were never introduced, and nine of the twelve 37/6s were subsequently sold to DRS. Eurostar (UK) retained three, which have been put to other uses, including: rescuing failed Eurostar sets; moving Eurostars over non-electrified routes; driver training, and route learning.

West Coast Railway Company

The West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) purchased four locomotives from Ian Riley Engineering in 2004. The two operational locomotives (nos. 37197 and 37261) were used on charter trains, or as standby locomotives for "The Jacobite" steam-hauled excursion services from Fort William to Mallaig during 2005. These two, along with non-operational 37423, have since been sold to DRS. The fourth (no. 37235) was for spares.
WCRC now has two operational Class 37s, 37214 and 37248.

Trivia

Network Rail ERTMS project

As of July 2007, Network Rail are currently restoring 3 class 37's as part of the ERTMS trial project on the cambrian coastline. The site of the restoration is the Barrow Hill Roundhouse, where 5 ex-HNRC locomotives have been taken. The intention is to strip and scrap 2 locomotives, using them only as parts donors.
The class was chosen because of its original fitment with both air and vacuum braking, a feature which will allow it to pull both modern freight trains as well as steam specials. The main work of the locomotives will be to pull on track machines (such as tampers) through the ERTMS section.

Preservation

Class 37 locomotives have proved to be very popular, with many examples saved for preservation on heritage railways or by enthusiast groups. Notable examples saved include the first-built locomotive, no. D6700, prototype Mirrlees-engined no. 37901, and both Ruston-engined prototypes nos. 37905 and 37906.

Numbers (Current in bold)			Name	Livery	Location	Notes
'D6700'	37119	37350		BR Green	North Yorkshire Moors Railway	First-built locomotive - NRM Owned
D6703	'37003'	-	-	BR Blue	Weardale Railway	Owned by the Class 37 Locomotive Group
D6709	37009	'37340'	-	Railfreight Distribution	Great Central Railway (North)	-
D6725	'37025'	-	Inverness TMD	BR Blue Large Logo	Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway	Owned by the Scottish 37 Group
D6728	37028	'37505'	-	TransRail Grey	Eden Valley Railway	-
'D6732'	37032	37353	Mirage	BR Green	North Norfolk Railway	-
D6737	37037	'37321'	Gartcosh	BR Blue	South Devon Railway	-
D6775	'37075'	-	-	BR Blue	Churnet Valley Railway	-
D6776	37076	'37518'	-	Railfreight Metals	Ayr	-
D6797	'37097'		Old Fettercairn	BR Blue	Caledonian Railway	Caledonian Railway Diesel Group.
D6799	37099	'37324'	Clydesbridge	BR Blue	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	-
D6816	'37116'	-	Sister Dora	TransRail Blue	Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway
D6823	37123	'37679'		Railfreight Grey	Northampton & Lamport Railway
D6836	37136	'37905'	-	Trainload Metals	Dartmoor Railway	Rebuilt with Ruston engine.
D6842	'37142'	-	-	BR Blue	Bodmin & Wenford Railway	-
D6846	'37146'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Stainmore Railway, Kirkby Stephen	-
D6850	37150	'37901'	Mirrlees Pioneer	Railfreight Grey	Llangollen Railway	Rebuilt with Mirrlees engine.
D6852	'37152'	-	-	InterCity Swallow	Peak Rail	-
D6869	37169	'37674'	St Blaize Church 1445-1995	Railfreight Triple Grey	Stainmore Railway, Kirkby Stephen
D6875	'37175'	-	-	Civil Engineers	East Lancashire Railway	-
D6888	'37188'	-	-	Undercoat Black	Peak Rail	-
D6890	37190	'37314'	Dalzell	BR Blue Large Logo	Midland Railway Butterley	-
D6898	'37198'	-	-	BR Blue	Dartmoor Railway	-
D6901	'37201'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Barrow Hill Engine Shed	-
D6906	37206	'37906'	-	Railfreight Grey	Severn Valley Railway	Rebuilt with Ruston engine.
D6907	'37207'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Plym Valley Railway	-
D6911	'37211'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Churnet Valley Railway	-
D6915	'37215'	-	-	BR Blue	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	-
D6919	'37219'	-	-	Mainline Blue	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway	-
D6927	'37227'	-	-	Trainload Metals	Battlefield Railway	-
D6940	'37240'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Llangollen Railway	-
D6948	'37248'	-	Loch Arkaig	WCRC Maroon	On hire to West Coast Railway Company	-
D6954	'37254'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Privately owned	-
D6955	'37255'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Great Central Railway	On loan from Fragonset Railways.
D6963	'37263'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Dean Forest Railway	-
D6964	'37264'	-	-	Civil Engineers	Birmingham Railway Museum	-
D6975	'37275'	-	-	BR Blue	Weardale Railway	-
D6987	37287	'37414'	Cathays C&W 1846-1993	Regional Railways	Weardale Railway	Fitted with electric train supply.

Fleet Details

As of July 2007, the main operator of Class 37 locomotives is Direct Rail Services. However, EWS retain a large fleet of fifty-plus locomotives in reserve, many of which could be reactivated at short notice.

Class	Number Range	Year Built ( ★ Converted)	No. Built ( ★ Converted)	Operator	No. in Traffic (2007)	Locomotive Numbers	Preserved
Class 37/0	37001-37308 (''37311-37314'') (''37321-37326'')	1960-64	308	DRS	'11'	37029/038/059/069/087/194/197/218/229/259/261	28
				WCRC	'2'	37214/248
Class 37/3	37330-37335 37340-37345 37350-37359 37370-37382 37383-37384	1994 ★ 1994 ★ 1987 ★ 1987 ★ 1998 ★	6 ★ 6 ★ 10 ★ 13 ★ 2 ★				-
Class 37/4	37401-37431	1986-87 ★	31 ★	EWS	'5'	37405/406/410/417/422	1
Class 37/5	37501-37521 37667-37699			DRS	'3'	37510/515/688	-
Class 37/6	37601-37612		12 ★	DRS	'9'	37602/605-612	-
				Eurostar	'3'	37601/603/604
Class 37/7	37701-37719 37796-37803 37883-37899						-
Class 37/9	37901-37906						3

References

★ The Junction - Class 37 History

External links

★ Video