NYMR resident 37264's makeover

[6990WitherslackHall]

The NYMR's resident Class 37, 37264, is currently receiving a makeover in Grosmont MPD. 

 

Here's what it looked like before:

 

And here's what it currently looks like (not my photo): 

 

Now, the most noticable changes are the round buffers, the bits in green and what could be a 4 character headcode box. A livery change has also been confirmed so it could be in BR green as D6964.

Edited November 6, 2023 by 6990WitherslackHall

[adb968008]

6 hours ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

The NYMR's resident Class 37, 37264, is currently receiving a makeover in Grosmont MPD. 

 

Here's what it looked like before:

 

And here's what it currently looks like (not my photo): 

 

Now, the most noticable changes are the round buffers, the bits in green and what could be a 4 character headcode box. A livery change has also been confirmed so it could be in BR green as D6964.

I assume green back to original condition, as its blue days, it had small cut outs around the buffer beams for many years in the 1970’s/80’s.

looking through flickr its had 3 nose jobs, one of which was a virtual nose end replacement.

it also had the side fairing cut unusually to others as a result of this.

various sources suggest an accident in the 1970’s.

 

not my images,..

 

Note the heavy patching/rippled nature of this nose, in addition to the bufferbeam cuts being squared away.

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by adb968008

[Railpassion]

I'm told it will appear in BR blue 

[6990WitherslackHall]

17 hours ago, Railpassion said:

I'm told it will appear in BR blue 

So like in the photos above then?

[adb968008]

3 hours ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

So like in the photos above then?

Not sure, as the cowling fitted doesnt look the same as it did in the 1970’s, in the photos above anyway.

 

Depends when the cuts were made to the cowling, and if it was Green or Blue when whatever event happened to it to have those changes made.

 

it would look like a standard / normal 37 for 1970’s though, if it were in blue, just not with its unique features, which were removed when it got the 1980’s era bufferbeam cut / oval buffers fitted.

 

its of note that 37260,1,2 didnt get ovals too.

Edited November 7, 2023 by adb968008

[BrushVeteran]

My offering of D6964 taken in April 1979 at Finchley Road and Frognal station on its way light engine to Willesdan yard.

Please excuse the slight blurring but my Instamatic 200 didn't like moving objects!

[adb968008]

46 minutes ago, BrushVeteran said:

My offering of D6964 taken in April 1979 at Finchley Road and Frognal station on its way light engine to Willesdan yard.

Please excuse the slight blurring but my Instamatic 200 didn't like moving objects!

Are you sure of the date or the number, therrs quite a few pictures showing 37264 in Blue from the mid 1970’s.. its a bit late to not have a TOPS number too, did you mean 1969 ?

 

Eitherway its before its cowling had the squaring off.

 

I did find this one on flickr, from 1972, which was before the event affecting its buffers, as the cowling is complete here,  so it would be correct for a period in blue… though I note its on cast bogies at this stage, not fabricated…

The event becomes more intriguing as maybe a bogie swap was required as well as cutting the cowling….

 

 

Class 37 website shows a Stratford works visit in summer 1974, with a 4 month gap in sightings, I wonder if this is a clue ?

 

https://www.class37.co.uk/fleet.aspx?strnumber=37264

 

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by adb968008

[BrushVeteran]

The date is correct but it may be 6964. I rescanned the slide earlier and it looks like there is a D prefix but the previous scan I have of it on my flickr site omits the D. Sorry for any confusion but it is the correct loco.

[Railpassion]

I'm now told it will be green. 

[rogerzilla]

 

6 hours ago, Railpassion said:

I'm now told it will be green. 

Oh good.  There are rather a lot of blue preserved diesels at the moment (presumably because the owners or the target market remember them like that).  I grew up with BR Blue and didn't like it except for the later Large Logo version.  It was always dull and dirty.  HSTs were the exception, as they seemed to be cleaned more often, but HST livery was halfway to Large Logo anyway.

 

 

[papagolfjuliet]

<deleted by author>

Edited November 9, 2023 by papagolfjuliet

[rogerzilla]

35 minutes ago, papagolfjuliet said:

 

With this repaint rail blue will have disappeared from the NYMR's operating loco and carriage fleet - not counting the visiting 31 128 - and only the 08s will remain in blue. The EWS 31 will probably be staying that way but that seems to be a better aesthetic  fit, somehow.

The recent SVR diesel gala was wall-to-wall with blue hydraulics.  Personally I like Warships in green with SYP, but where was the maroon - surely the classic colour for Warships and Westerns?  And Hymeks had quite a nice bespoke green livery, a bit like Deltics.

[Railpassion]

I'm now told it will be green. 

 

I'm mistaken, someone on the project reports it's BR blue.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Railpassion
New info

[rodent279]

We all await with bated breath.....

[Halvarras]

21 hours ago, BrushVeteran said:

My offering of D6964 taken in April 1979 at Finchley Road and Frognal station on its way light engine to Willesdan yard.

Please excuse the slight blurring but my Instamatic 200 didn't like moving objects!

 

 

D6964 was one of the original ten dual-braked examples (D6959-68) and the air brake pipe is visible in this photo, supporting this being D6964. It appears to have a data panel on the far cabside. If the Flickr loco's 1972 date is correct then this photo must have been taken between early 1969 (when data panels began to appear en masse) and whenever it was painted blue in 1972. So, with D prefix too (the ER was efficient at painting these out although there were some long-lasting exceptions, e.g. D1103) and decent external condition under the dirt April 1969 seems about right. Definitely not 1979 though, we were well into TOPS by then and the last green 37 (37244 I think) had gone blue in October 1976. (D6964's neighbour, D6965, had become 37265 while still in green livery).

 

There was no need to cut the valance around the buffers, there were trim pieces either side of the buffer stocks that covered the square apertures - these are just visible in the view of 6964 in blue above. Some locos lost these in advance of the general 1980s valance cutting.

[BrushVeteran]

4 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

 

D6964 was one of the original ten dual-braked examples (D6959-68) and the air brake pipe is visible in this photo, supporting this being D6964. It appears to have a data panel on the far cabside. If the Flickr loco's 1972 date is correct then this photo must have been taken between early 1969 (when data panels began to appear en masse) and whenever it was painted blue in 1972. So, with D prefix too (the ER was efficient at painting these out although there were some long-lasting exceptions, e.g. D1103) and decent external condition under the dirt April 1969 seems about right. Definitely not 1979 though, we were well into TOPS by then and the last green 37 (37244 I think) had gone blue in October 1976. (D6964's neighbour, D6965, had become 37265 while still in green livery).

 

There was no need to cut the valance around the buffers, there were trim pieces either side of the buffer stocks that covered the square apertures - these are just visible in the view of 6964 in blue above. Some locos lost these in advance of the general 1980s valance cutting.

I should read what I type more carefully so yes I made a typo. The date is April 1970.

[6990WitherslackHall]

22 hours ago, Railpassion said:

I'm now told it will be green. 

 

I'm mistaken, someone on the project reports it's BR blue.

So officially, it's BR blue then?

[6990WitherslackHall]

Saw 37264 helping 08850 on some coach moves in Pickering carriage stable on 06/01/24. Took a couple of photos.

 

 

 

So what's changed?

 

Well, the windows on the bodyside looks like they have been masked off, the number and BR double arrow have been removed although the outline is still visible. There's more green primer on the bodyside in various places. The front ends look the same as before.

[37114]

Re the cuts to the fairings, if you look closely the fairing around the buffers is removable as it is in effect 2 c shaped plates which wrap round the shank of the buffer. These need to be removable in the event of a buffer needing to be changed as otherwise it would be impossible to access the securing bolts. Looking at pics of the loco over the years it seems these were missing for a bit no doubt after repair so the presence of the plates does not provide a pointer to whichever livery it will emerge, potentially either blue or green will be correct. Of note it still retains the plate above the coupling which was retro fitted to all centre box class 37's early in their career, When 37248 was restored as D948 this plate was removed so the loco could be restored to true as new condition.

[6990WitherslackHall]

Update:

 

[6990WitherslackHall]

She's looking good!

 

[Clive martin]

I love it being an east anglian lad i like the SF depot stickers quality job!

[6990WitherslackHall]

Domino headcode is now back on.

[russ p]

Cracking job, personally I would have preferred preferred tops numbers and headcodes but that's just my preference.  Good to see its had a good restoration 

[Clive martin]

Wow looks superb!