Alasdair E Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 60 years of 37403 celebrated with a new Accurascale model commissioned by The Scottish Railway Preservation Society! In October 1965, English Electric Type 3 locomotive D6607 rolled out of the Vulcan Foundry to start a career of front-line service on the British mainline that, in the guise of 37403 “Isle of Mull”, continues today. In 2025, The Scottish Railway Preservation Society will celebrate 60 years of 37403 with a specially commissioned and exclusive model as it currently operates. This is an exciting initiative for the Society, having last been involved in a model locomotive commission in 1998. 309 examples of this mixed-traffic 1,750hp Co-Co class were built by English Electric and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn between 1960 and 1965 to two basic designs, split and centre headcode. They could be found systemwide leading all kinds of freight and passenger services. 135 were rebuilt in the mid-1980s giving them a further lease of life, while further major rebuilds have taken place since privatisation. Like 37403, many are still in service. The Scottish Railway Preservation Society has commissioned its own OO scale model of 37403 from Accurascale. It will be produced as it has run since 2016, in British Rail large logo livery with centre headcode, original tail lights, cast bogies and western style lamp brackets. D6607 was released from the factory on 22nd October 1965 and was immediately allocated to Landore depot in South Wales. After an initial career in Wales and being numbered 37307 in 1974 under British Rail’s TOPS numbering scheme, the loco entered works in 1984 for rebuilding as one of the 31 class 37/4s which included the fitment of Electric Train Heating and gaining its new identity of 37403. Named “Isle of Mull” in 1986 and operating primarily the West Highland and Oban lines from Eastfield depot, the loco was renamed “Glendarroch” in 1988 after the fictional village in TV series Take the High Road. In 1994, the locomotive achieved celebrity status, receiving British Railways green and being named “Ben Cruachan” in connection with the centenary celebrations of the West Highland Line. In 1997, having passed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railways (EWS) at privatisation, the locomotive then worked in South Wales, England and the ScotRail Fort William sleeper trains. After withdrawal in 2000, 37403 remained in store until purchased by The Scottish Railway Preservation Society and brought to the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway in 2008. Following extensive restoration work, including a zero-hours engine rebuild, 37403, reunited with its “Isle of Mull” nameplates, resumed service on the mainline in 2016. Based at Bo’ness, 37403 can be seen the length and breadth of Britain, being used on railtours and hired to other mainline operators. The locomotive can also often be seen visiting other heritage railways. 37403 is one of only two museum accessioned locomotivesto work on the mainline – the other being the world-famous Flying Scotsman – and the only diesel locomotive. The Accurascale model will be delivered in special Scottish Railway Preservation Society packaging and will be available in DCC ready format with a 21pin DCC socket, or with Accurascale’s Accurathrash sound fitted. The model features include: • BR large logo livery as operating 2016-present • Centre headcode nose with headlight and original tail lights • Refurbished ‘split’ nose grilles • Cutaway bufferbeam cowling with oval buffers • ETH bufferbeam configuration with ETH/air/vac/control pipes and multiple working equipment • Toughened windscreens with as built cab interior • Welded roof with plated boiler exhaust and small cab roof vent • Original Western Region lamp brackets • Cast bogies • Boiler water tank converted to long range fuel tank • Late EE cantrail grille • Optional miniature snowploughs The model has a retail price of £169.99 for DCC ready and £259.99 for DCC sound, with postage and packaging extra. It can be pre-ordered for £30 deposit (DCC ready) or £45 deposit (DCC sound), or by paying in full, from https://shop.srps.org.uk/ and is due for delivery by the end of 2025. The Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) was formed in 1961 and is the operator of the Museum of Scottish Railways and the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway. SRPS Railtours is the longest established operator of day excursions by heritage train, since 1970 14 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XChris Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Placed my order, great loco and nicely in my era. Who can resist a Large Logo 37… Well done to the SRPS! (&AS) Also tells us that there’s another batch of 37’s due at the back end of 2025… 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Walker Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Placed my order too, for sound fitted. Looking forward to this one having seen it a few times. Agree with XChris, more 37's due towards the end of 2025, but then again you never know! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginhst539 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Cut my teeth on 403 many moons ago when it was a green shell without a power unit. Safe to say this was very promtly ordered! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Scottish-Exile Posted February 12 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12 Nice one. I would have thought either SRPS or AS would have held off with this announcement until Model Rail Scotland next week. Unless of course there are other announcements being readied for that show 😀 I see the text and the poster in the original post refers to the Sound Fitted version being £259.99 however the website has it as £269.99 if you make full payment today. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishsteam Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 5 minutes ago, Scottish-Exile said: Nice one. I would have thought either SRPS or AS would have held off with this announcement until Model Rail Scotland next week. Unless of course there are other announcements being readied for that show 😀 I see the text and the poster in the original post refers to the Sound Fitted version being £259.99 however the website has it as £269.99 if you make full payment today. The full payment option includes a £10 postage charge, as stated on the website (and in the small text on the poster): “This model will retail for £259.99 (DCC sound) with a £10.00 charge for post & packaging. Delivery is expected Q4 2025.” 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted February 12 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12 (edited) Duly ordered a sound version. As 37403 was regularly used on the Cumbrian Coast line, the line I hope to model, I can only hope that eventually Accurascale do 37401 and a accurate 37424/37558 to go with my 37403, 37409 and 37423. 37419 and 37425 in compass livery would also be good as well as they were late repaints and therefore just outside my era. Edited February 12 by TravisM Spelling 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonter Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Ordered. Now I have two years to build a layout to run it on... 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean the Bob Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Cracking news, got mine ordered today. Now just need someone to convince Accura to make 37409 in its new Scotrail livery... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Fair Oak Junction Posted February 12 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12 Lovely choice of model, can't go far wrong with an Eastfield large logo 37 👌 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted February 12 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12 2 hours ago, Moonter said: Ordered. Now I have two years to build a layout to run it on... I think my Cumbrian Coast layout won't see any layout progress for at least that, probably longer 😂 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nightstar.train Posted February 12 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12 Hmmm. I don’t usually go for BR blue anything, it’s just not my thing. But I think this will be an exception. Bo’ness is my local preserved line and I’ve had quite a few turns behind 37403, so I’ll be ordering this to support them. DCC sound of course, I love the roar of a tractor! 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Roy Langridge Posted February 12 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12 1 hour ago, Fair Oak Junction said: Lovely choice of model, can't go far wrong with an Eastfield large logo 37 👌 Well, only when you stick an orange stripe on it!😉 Seriously, lovely loco and I hope it sells well. Me, I wait patiently for some mid-80s 37/4s without the stripe. Roy 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazRail Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Very nice choice. Is this part of a third run? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny151 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Delighted with this news - pre-order straight in. It's been harder and harder to hold off on an Accurascale 37, but told myself 403 had to be coming sooner or later, and here we are - or we will be in 2025! For me it's worth the wait if it means an exclusive box (full works like 402 please!), supporting the real loco and a seam free nose... what more could you want? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted February 12 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12 My orders in. looking at the web page quantities, you might not want to wait too long. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted February 13 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13 6 hours ago, CazRail said: Very nice choice. Is this part of a third run? No, it’s a SRPS (Scottish Railway Preservation Society) special commission Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Roy Langridge Posted February 13 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, TravisM said: No, it’s a SRPS (Scottish Railway Preservation Society) special commission Yes, but I doubt it will be the only model in a batch which is the point being made by @CazRail Indicative of a third batch coming at that point. Roy 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted February 13 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, Roy Langridge said: Yes, but I doubt it will be the only model in a batch which is the point being made by @CazRail Indicative of a third batch coming at that point. Roy And whilst its a 37/4 in 2020’s condition, its closer to 1980/90’s condition than the DRS ones… giving me hope of more 90’s refurbs. The 37714 release could do with some relatives as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matchmaker Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I've preordered, as have at least two of my fellow club members! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nightstar.train Posted February 13 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13 15 hours ago, CazRail said: Very nice choice. Is this part of a third run? I would imagine so. I seriously doubt any manufacturer would start up the whole production line for a single limited edition, they’re always done as part of a larger production run of many models. It’s model rail Scotland in a fortnight, so I’m guessing announcements will happen then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Scottish-Exile Posted February 13 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13 Having trouble checking out for this. Enter all my CC details, including a verification password that my CC Company send, but then the screen just hangs. So not sure if the orders gone through or not, but it's still shows as being in my basket. Of course, having done this 3 times then I may end up with three locos 😳 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishsteam Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 We appear to be having an issue with the integration of certain payment provider’s authenticator instructions - 95% of orders are going through, but if you are one of the 5% I can imagine it is very frustrating! I have contacted anyone who tried unsuccessfully to place an order by close of play yesterday evening, but if anyone struggles today please email Andrew.fowler@srps.org.uk and we will make sure that you don’t miss out. Andrew 3 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purnu Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Hi Andrew. I’ve been trying to order one of these models but I’m running into an issue on the payment page. It appears that the page has a delivery address option that is set to the UK and I’m actually abroad. So far I’ve been unable to alter this, am I just missing something simple? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted February 13 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 13 9 hours ago, Roy Langridge said: Yes, but I doubt it will be the only model in a batch which is the point being made by @CazRail Indicative of a third batch coming at that point. Roy Hi Roy, I should have pointed out that, that particular model is exclusive to the SRPS and as you rightly said, I expect it's been included within a third batch's production run, which will hopefully be announced soon. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now