Class 37

[Calimero]

Although I was on one this morning which struggled to pull a 66!

 

Some of them are pretty tired now, although I recall many years back, when BR, being on some old dogs! The interior and exterior was rotten, heaters were non-existent and damp inside. Yet they were the predominant traction on Tilbury and Felixstowe liners, engineering jobs and tanks off Thameshaven.

[letterspider]

They look really good

[rob D2]

They’ve outlived pretty much all traction from the same era on the mainline , must have something going for them !

[pheaton]

The class 37 is a good example of simplicity vs reliability, the fact that they stayed in frontline service with EWS longer than most other british traction goes some way towards their usefulness as a loco, but also bear in mind that one of the reasons they were kept on was their route availability, if nothing else, as an ETH machine they cant compete with modern traction, the ETH index of a 37 is too low for a decent length passenger train, as a freight loco, only the refurbished ones could really pull anything useful on a daily basis single handed, otherwise you would be looking at a pair of non refurbs..... and with the refurb you had the alternator already fitted which replaces the 37s Achilles heal being the EE generator which due to the internal air flows of a 37 suffers badly from oil contamination.....but the key question is....

 

you have a relatively short term contract that doesn't pull huge loads....do you spend say 2 million on a brand new all singing all dancing type 5, and then try and find work for them at the end of the contract? do you spend 3/4 of a million on an all singing all dancing refurbished type 5 that can only do 60mph, or do you spend 1/4 of a million on a type 3 that can pull the loads you want has grandfather rights over emissions, and noise regulations, and meets the haulage requirements of your contract which is infrastructure trains (80mph plus) or the odd emergency spot hire..... and not to mention there load of the things because preservationists bought them in droves.....and there also daft enough to buy them back off you after you have finished kicking the living daylights out of them on the mainline.

 

simple answer really....and bear in mind with a 37 you don't have to worry about depreciation they are already pretty worthless

 

It doesn't make sense ordering a type 3 for long term usage, it doesn't make sense re-activating a vastly more complicated type 4 or type 5 for type 3 work.....and 33s didnt get a look in because sulzer spares are comparatively very hard to source, and also there isn't really a lot of them.....

 

Being a type 3 the 37 has its numerical build advantage and also its in the middle of the road in terms of haulage capability and speed, making it quite an attractive alternative to new traction.

Edited March 12, 2018 by pheaton

[The Johnster]

1,750hp for 105 tons is not bad going for the early 60s; by that time some of the mistakes of the modernisation plan were being successfully addressed.  Their strength on South Wales coal work, not a job they were specifically designed for and not the loco the WR originally wanted (they had ordered 110 off low geared Hymeks, but Beyer Peacock's purchase of materials to build them took them out of liquidity) was that they were built like brick sh*thouses, could take a bit of rough and tumble, had good brakes, but mostly because their transmission of power to the rail was exceptionally smooth, vital for heavy freight work on inclines or indifferent NCB track.  The ER, NER, and ScR used theirs as mixed traffic machines but the WR did not as a rule for some time.

 

They are highly adaptable, a brilliant little mixed traffic horse capable of being fitted with air brakes and ETH kit, and for many years were bombproof reliable, though some are getting a bit long in the tooth by now!  Phaeton's comments about their attractiveness to spot hirers and short term contract operators should ensure that they have a few years left in them yet!