Class 37 loco still working
Discussion
There are quite a few knocking about still........mainly with Direct Rail Services. They are often used for test trains as well as nuclear traffic......
One of my more recent pics...
37610 at Penarth. 15/5/13 by Nick Wilcock, on Flickr
One of my more recent pics...
37610 at Penarth. 15/5/13 by Nick Wilcock, on Flickr
matchmaker said:
tight5 said:
Shotgun Jon said:
I must admit, they are my favourite loco.
really ?why ?
useless pile of poo IMO .
I had a soft spot for the 37's larger cousin - the class 40 - 7 preserved, one mainline registered (when they finish some repairs).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwoVfpZEL0
Overweight and underpowered, but possessing a certain charisma - much like myself!
RichB said:
English Electric Type 3 as I would have called them as a kid. Don't know about them being a "piece of poo" but they often ran double headed from Paddington down to the West Country when they replaced the Westerns or Warships, presumably because they weren't quite powerful enough.
That was Gerry Fiennes' idea, giving 3500hp rather than the 2200hp of the Warships or 2700hp of the Westerns.Economically it didn't make sense, but higher speeds were good for publicity - especially given that the M5 was being built at the time
rs1952 said:
RichB said:
English Electric Type 3 as I would have called them as a kid. Don't know about them being a "piece of poo" but they often ran double headed from Paddington down to the West Country when they replaced the Westerns or Warships, presumably because they weren't quite powerful enough.
That was Gerry Fiennes' idea, giving 3500hp rather than the 2200hp of the Warships or 2700hp of the Westerns. Economically it didn't make sense, but higher speeds were good for publicity - especially given that the M5 was being built at the time RichB said:
rs1952 said:
RichB said:
English Electric Type 3 as I would have called them as a kid. Don't know about them being a "piece of poo" but they often ran double headed from Paddington down to the West Country when they replaced the Westerns or Warships, presumably because they weren't quite powerful enough.
That was Gerry Fiennes' idea, giving 3500hp rather than the 2200hp of the Warships or 2700hp of the Westerns. Economically it didn't make sense, but higher speeds were good for publicity - especially given that the M5 was being built at the time 
(although it was mid 70's for me).A few of us used to pass time during school lunchtimes by walking down to Jacobs Ladder footbridge to eat our sarni's as they thundered underneath
Gerry Fiennes was a great arguer for higher powered locomotives. In the days immediately after the 1955 Modernisation Programme (and its subsequent revison/ speeding up un 1958) he argued that you needed at least 3000hp "under the bonnet" for trains to compete with the coming motorway network.
The Deltics arrived in the East Coast main line because of his views (he was General Manager of the Eastern Region at the time) and he used EE type 3s in multiple on the WR for much the same reason (shows how old I am that I still use the term EE type 3 rather than class 37 )
The WR had a lot of them, initially to replace steam on freight working and mainly in South Wales. As that traffic began to reduce in the 1960s so they became available for the "double heading" era. This ony lasted for a relatively short period, and once the Class 50s were made redundant on the West Coast main line following electrification, they moved to the WR which saw the end of the 37s on express work, and also the demise of the hydraulics.
The 50s themselves were of course replaced by HSTs in the late 1970s, but did soldier on for a few more years until more HSTs became available following electrification of the ECML.
The Deltics arrived in the East Coast main line because of his views (he was General Manager of the Eastern Region at the time) and he used EE type 3s in multiple on the WR for much the same reason (shows how old I am that I still use the term EE type 3 rather than class 37
)The WR had a lot of them, initially to replace steam on freight working and mainly in South Wales. As that traffic began to reduce in the 1960s so they became available for the "double heading" era. This ony lasted for a relatively short period, and once the Class 50s were made redundant on the West Coast main line following electrification, they moved to the WR which saw the end of the 37s on express work, and also the demise of the hydraulics.
The 50s themselves were of course replaced by HSTs in the late 1970s, but did soldier on for a few more years until more HSTs became available following electrification of the ECML.
aeropilot said:
Snap.... (although it was mid 70's for me). A few of us used to pass time during school lunchtimes by walking down to Jacobs Ladder footbridge to eat our sarni's as they thundered underneath
(although it was mid 70's for me). A few of us used to pass time during school lunchtimes by walking down to Jacobs Ladder footbridge to eat our sarni's as they thundered underneath 
Small world! Jacobs Ladder was exactly where I first became fascinated with trains! Mum used to do the shopping in West Ealing with me before I went to infants school and then we'd walk to Jacobs Ladder to watch them for a while. I used to watch them approaching then run across the bridge to get engulfed in the steam! The Bristolian, Torbay Express etc. Carmathan Castle, Pendennis Castle etc. Great stuff... When I was older I would cycle there and sit on the platform of the disused UD mild depot watching Westerns, Warships, Hymeks and those new-fangled Brush Type 4s 
Edited by RichB on Tuesday 6th August 13:54
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