Blobrick

I m hoping that the more knowledgeable amongst our membership, will be able to help me ? I ve worked on the railway from the late 70s until retiring in 2020, and as such hang my head in shame for not really taking all that much notice of changes happening around me at the time. One such subject is that of liveries being applied to various classes of loco and why? If we take the class 37 fleet for example, in 1985 an initial batch of 26 class 37s were refurbished and fitted with ETH to work freight/local services in Scotland, with a further 6 being completed afterwards and allocated to Wales for similar duties. These locos received the new Large Logo livery (which l feel suited them well) However by 1989 some of these 37/4s were being repainted into Intercity/Engineers/RailFreight liveries. I am assuming the these liveries were sponsored by the sectors to which the liveries belonged to? What l find confusing is that after 1989 you could see a Railfreight or Engineering liveried locomotive working passenger stock, or an Intercity liveried loco on and Ballast working. As an example 37262, which was allocated to Inverness in 1989 was repainted from Large Logo to Engineering livery, yet still worked passenger stock between Inverness and Aberdeen. Does that mean that 37262 had been allocated to the Engineering pool, but after repaint, was on hire to Inverness to use as required? How was the decision made as to which loco went to which sector? And if there was as much hiring of locomotives between sectors as appears to be the case judging from photos, the accounting sections at depots much have been on permanent over time ! Bob C

Just in the off chance someone has one, they are prepared to part with, l m seeking a Bachmann Branchline 39-726Dc BR Mk2F DBSO Driving Brake 2nd Open in Scotrail livery. Bob C

Brilliant that just the information l needed to know. thank you and everyone else for taking the time to offer advice and help on this matter Very much appreciated Bob C

Thanks chaps, really appreciated all your help on this matter. One quick question though does anyone know if the modern electrification flashes are bigger or smaller than the original ones? Bob C

That good info thanks, looks like its doable then !

I am hoping to back date the model to around 1989 so when were the roof mounted aerials fitted?

Are there an class 47 experts in our happy throng who could answer this query please? I currently have my eye on Bachmann's latest offering of a ScotRail class 47, namely 47712 "Lady Diana Spencer" I note that the model appears to be finished in its current preserved livery, and was wondering what apart from replacement of the modern warning flashes would also need to be altered to back date the model to its late 1980s condition? Hopefully the donor model is suitable in the first place? Bob C

Thanks Daddyman, appreciate the info 😊

I feel we are going down the rabbit hole here! l have a model of 37417 from the 32 xxx series and lo and behold, it has cast bogies as well! Suspect it was down to what was available to be used at the time when the loco went into shop, so for the modeller its back to good old Flickr and start looking lol Bob C

Well I was right this is a mine field, so easy to get caught out as l appear to here done so here. I had set my period as 1989, Ness viaduct incident and the introduction of 156s, looks like l ll need to spread my time line again lol Mid 87 to mid 89.............. yes l could make that work ! Bob C

Funnily enough l was just looking at the Engrs Grey version of 37262 in this years Bachmann catalogue, thinking along the same lines. It would depend on if l could get a suitably finished body shell from Rainbow Railways. l suspect not! Cheers Bob C

What type of bogies did 37262 have, fabricated or........?

Arrgghh, this is the type of pit fall its all to easy to fall into. Thank you so much for pointing this detail out . TBH l never noticed any differences on the bogies of 260 or 262. I m guessing the same applies to 261, it had class 37 bogies as well?

I m currently digging to find a list............. Bob C

Many thanks for your advice re class 37 donors for given prototypes, for us not familiar with the class, its a class full of pit falls for the unwary. Models are far to expensive to discover you ve made the wrong purchase! I ll be chasing Rainbow Railways for a re numbered 37260 to 37262, that will give me a second Inverness loco at least. Cheers Bob C

Good question. I ve not seen these coaches turn up in any other photos etc over the 15 months in question?

Thanks Pete, l confess l had not noticed a red banner, that most likely explains the lack of reply, however over three weeks is a long time to not heard back from them, oh well l ll just keep my fingers crossed and wait and see? Cheers Bob C

Quick question if l may, does anyone know if something has happen to the model shop "House of Hobbies"? I ordered an item from them about three weeks ago, unfortunately the item was defective, so l ve been trying to contact the shop to arrange a replacement etc. So far l ve sent three emails and numbers phone calls with no rely from either. Have they ceased trading? Bob C

From my limited research so far.... Class 37414/415/416/419/420/421 seen working passenger stock 37260 x 2OBA and 37261 on a rake of TTA (Shell livery l believe) Two part rake for the north typically seems to be Mk1 TSO,BG,TSO+MKlla BSO,TSO It seems that normally the TSO+BSO set went to Wick, with the 3 coach formation going to Thurso, typically a BG+TSO+TSO (MKl) rake in addition to above, though l ve seen at least one photo of a two coach set at Thurso too! Suspect it was down to the time of year and patronage There's a video on You tube covering the initial incident, in it it states the 6 locos and 4 coach sets were trapped on the north side, which was sufficient to run a service straight off .I ve read somewhere that there were only 3 x Locomotives and 6 x Sprinter set at any one time working north from the Muir of Ord during the 15 month period. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhXPLUzxU-8 Hope this helps Bob C

Heres a very poor screen grab from a video on youtube called The Far North Dingwall to Wick 1989, it shows two TSOs in Tourist livery with a Blue Grey BG in rear

There's a collection of photos on Flickr showing stock transfer during the 15 months period when the rebuilding of the Ness viaduct was on going (https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/albums/72157639810566544/) https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12293897945/in/album-72157639810566544/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12347193233/in/album-72157639810566544/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12347944014/in/album-72157639810566544/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12477663253/in/album-72157639810566544/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/roddymacphee/12477976864/in/album-72157639810566544/ Bob C.

Here's a photo l found on the web showing 37421 with Tourist stock at Strathcarron 14 July 1989. Class 156 on opposite line

I ve seen a photo on Flickr of 37 419 at Thurso April 17th 1990 with two Tourist liveried Mk2a coaches in tow. This would be during the period that the Far North line was severed from the rest of the network after the collapse of the Ness viaduct.

Thanks for the dates Simon, that certainly fits with what s been said here. So a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, its been a great help

I must admit i m finding RRs 37261/262 hard to resist, ideally l d like a split head code 37/ and a 37/4 and l d be a very happy bunny, but in lieu of any of them becoming available l think l ll be ringing RR again ! Cheers Bob C