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If you have any news on class 37/4's please submit to news@class37project.co.uk
21st December 2000
The Wanderings of 37427 Continues
37427 has continued on its wanderings after replacing 37428 as the WKBM loco on hire to the WKCD pool it reached Newport by Saturday and by Sunday was at Cardiff Canton for a brake block change. Today has seen it as the "Valleys Standby" so looks likely to replace 37412 or 418 at a convenient moment. 37412 would be favourite for replacing allowing it to be withdrawn on account of its high engine hours of 8000+.
Meanwhile 37428 continues to potter around the North West spending the weekend working engineers trains off Warrington Arpley Yard. It has been quoted as being south of the border for withdrawal so looks unlikely to return north.
37379 Reprieve
It would appear 37379 has been given a reprieve as it is currently at Bescot undergoing repair to its AWS equipment and is now booked for a B exam at Motherwell TMD on the 22nd December so looks like a 37/0 will be spending Christmas north of the border enjoying a new lease of life!
<Cheers to "37401" for the Gen>
TOPS Report - Saturday 16th December 2000
LOCATIONS OF SERVICEABLE CLASS 37/4s AT 10.45 ON 16/12/00
LOCO POOL LOCATION
37401 WKCD Crewe DMD
37405 WKBM Fort William
37408 WKBM Inverness yard (Next WTT 6D42)
37411 WKBM Motherwell TMD
37412 WKCD Rhymney
37413 WKCD Doncaster TMD
37415 WKBM Millerhill FP
37416 WKBM Motherwell TMD
37418 WKBM Rhymney
37419 WKBM Millerhill FP (Next WTT 0Z69)
37421 WKCD Crewe (Next WTT 5T57)
37426 WKCD 1D67 Birmingham New Street to Holyhead (Next WTT 1G11)
37427 WKBM Newport ADJ yard
37428 WKBM Warrington Arpley
37429 WKCD 1G96 Holyhead to Birmingham New Street (Next WTT 1D71)
Pool codes are :-
WKBM EWS Class 37/4 fitted with RETB
based at Motherwell (9 locos)
WKCD EWS Class 37/4 on hire to First North Western/Cardiff Valleys
based at Crewe (6 locos)
<Thanks to David Hamilton>
The Meeting
A successful meeting was held on Saturday (16/12/00) and a full report will be posted in the near future. If you would like to attend the next one (more warning will be given next time!) please contact me at matt@class37.free-online.co.uk
and finally...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
On behalf of all those who are
involved with the project we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year! It is unlikely that the website will be updated until early next
year due to the usual "family commitments" at this time of year so
look forward to hearing from you all in the New Year and hope it will be
prosperous for us all!
matt@class37.free-online.co.uk
14th December 2000
Just a quick update tonight:
DONT FORGET THE MEETING THIS SATURDAY - SEE BELOW
Withdrawals
The following 37's have all been
withdrawn in the past few days:
37375/413/509/516/669/670/673/675/677/678/685/689/692
the following are either on
decision or had repairs canceled:
37518/679
and finally the following locos
that are confirmed for withdrawal before Christmas:
37055/379
December is NOT going to be a good month for the class and its likely that before the new year there will be less than fifty in service.
Scottish News
Monday morning saw 37405 and 37415 running as 0Y45 Motherwell to Fort William for 37405 to work the Corpach trip before working 6E16 Fort William to Bedlington (as far as Mossend) with 66099 D.I.T. (the shed suffering from flat batteries - shame!) and 37415 worked 6D60 Fort William to Mossend Yard. On Tuesday morning both returned to Fort William with 6Y45 from Mossend Yard whilst worked to Taynuilt with the timber train.
<Cheers to "37401">
Does anyone know what is up with 37411? It has been rumoured to have been OOS at Motherwell for the past three months! Not very good omens given the current climate...
12th December 2000
Instructions on how to reach the
Anchor pub are as follows from Birmingham New Street station:
Leave the station by the main glass doors by WH Smith. Pass the taxi rank on
your right and at the end of the access road turn left towards the Rotunda.
Follow the main footpath around until you reach a path through the building site
on your right (the old Bull Ring) follow the path to the old Market and head
accross the old market to towards the church (I think it is sign posted for
Digbeth High Street. Behind the church (St Martin's Church?) proceed along Moat
Lane and at the end of Moat Lane follow the road to the right and cross Mill
Lane into Bradford Street. The pub is on the corner of the next crossroads with
Rea Street behind Digbeth Coach Station.
This area is undergoing large scale rebuilding at the moment so the route may differ a bit from what is described above!
Please see the following Map for more information (the recommended walking route is marked in Green)
11th December 2000
INAUGURAL MEETING!
We are pleased to announce that the inaugural meeting has been arrange for the afternoon of Saturday 16th December to be held at the The Anchor Pub, 308 Bradford Street, Digbeth, Birmingham. It is intended to start at around 14:00 and all of the committee will be in attendance so you can ask all those difficult questions!
Instructions on how to reach the location will be posted on this website tomorrow evening but I am assured it is only a ten minute walk from Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street stations. If you would like to attend will you please email me ASAP so we can get a rough idea of how many to expect - this is so the landlord knows how many to prepare for!
Scottish News
37405 was allocated 0Y45 Mossend to Fort William via Millerhill this morning with 37415 allocated 0Y45 Mossend to Millerhill, possibly going through to Fort William also?
<Cheers to "37401">
37428 on Hire
37428 appears to be on hire to the WKCD pool at Crewe until 30/01/01! Not sure why as the coast will be officially finishing on 30/12/00 but possibly it is destined to move onto the Rhymney's for a while? The locomotive spent today at Warrington Arpley so whatever happens it looks like it is to stay south of the border for a while!
R.I.P. 37670 and 37675
37675 in better days at Crewe whilst working the
08:07 Birmingham New Street to
Holyhead during the NB fest of Summer 1999. Matthew Kitchin
Both 37670 and 37675 are allocated withdrawal in the next few days at Stratford and Eastleigh respectively. This is not unexpected as there is likely to be a "tractor cull" over the next month or so as the sandites and the North Wales Coast come to an end so expect more withdrawals soon - hopefully all will be featured on these pages. 37670's last workings were 6Z43 Reading TMD to Thameshaven empty tanks then 0C43 to Stratford TMD for switching off whilst 37670 was found at Newport Docks today.
10th December 2000
R.I.P. 37413
37413 "The Scottish Railway Preservation
Society" waiting in the headshunt at Arrochar & Tarbet
with the Taynuilt to Mossend timber train on 6th April 2000. Matthew Kitchin
After 37413 failed on 5T13 23:02 Crewe - Holyhead late Wednesday night / early Thursday morning with a Radiator Fan Drive fault it was picked up by 56071 on 6E52 Holyhead - Humber coke train and taken to Doncaster TMD (not Immingham as stated elsewhere) for repairs. Unfortunately repairs were not forthcoming and the locomotive was put On Decision on Friday. Its future doesn't look good...
NB does it again!
After 37413 expired on 5T13 23:02 Crewe - Holyhead early Thursday morning 37717 was sent light engine from Warrington(?) to start 1G76 01:50 Holyhead - Birmingham New Street from Llandudno Junction. The 'refurb' tractor then continued on 1D57 05:25 Birmingham New Street - Holyhead and 1G96 Holyhead - Birmingham New Street as far as Crewe where 37426 replaced it. 37717 was then spare on Crewe Holding Sidings for the rest of the day.
Scottish News
The wanderings of 37427 continue unabated, on Friday it worked 0T01 Millerhill to Mossend TMD then spent most of the day under repair before working 6M76 Mossend - Bescot, originally allocated only as far as Warrington 427 worked throughout. Saturday morning found it shunting engineers trains at Bescot before being called to the rescue to drag kettle 6024 "King Edward I" from Birmingham International to Crewe with its support coach after the GWR King failed on a charter at Birmingham International with an AWS fault.
On Friday 37415 worked 6D60 (recoded from 7D60?) Fort William to Mossend Yard with 66114 DIT after the shed was failed with faulty RETB. Good to see the 37/4's are still useful for something at Fort William now the sleepers aren't running!
Rumour has it that several ECS moves have been taking place on the West Highland with the sleeper stock, anyone know any more? The sleepers should be restarting this week - any confirmation, sightings, photographs, etc are most appreciated!
<Thanks to a "regular">
37429 fails again!
37429 was released from Crewe DMD on Friday (8/12) following repairs after a traction motor flashover to work 1G95 06:49 Holyhead - Birmingham New Street on Saturday (9/12) morning but promptly failed at Chester (fault unknown this time) where the train was cancelled. 37421 ran light engine to Chester to restart 1D67 10:07 Birmingham New Street - Holyhead from there. It is thought that 429 managed to make its own way back to Crewe DMD for repairs on Saturday.
Rhymney Shopper
37412 performed on the Rhymney shopper specials this Saturday (9/12). Next Saturday should the the last Saturday but we will wait and see what happens on the 23rd December for those who leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute like me!
Website Update
The Class 37/4 Preservation project have released the following Introductory Leaflet which will be distributed at the meeting next Saturday, please feel free to download it and distribute amongst those who may be interested. The meeting location is still being finalised although it now looks like it will be held in Birmingham *if* we can secure a function room at a pub not far from Birmingham New Street station.
The following pages of the website have been updated - Press Releases and Links. Thanks to all who have contributed so far keep it coming!
Tractors and Immingham TMD
After speculation elsewhere that 37413 was destined for repairs at Immingham TMD it reminded me that the former Eastern Region depot is no longer authorised to carry out any maintenance or repairs on the English Electric Type 3's. It is believed that Immingham is the first depot in the country to be officially barred to 37's (except in emergencies) and is thought to be a cost cutting measure due to the fact that 37's are now very occasional visitors to the area and therefore it was expensive maintaining fitter knowledge, spares, etc. for the class.
4th December 2000
NB on the Coast!
Non-ETH tractors are still making it onto passenger trains on the coast (well not quite the coast this time!) despite fNW's ban on their use except to clear the line. on Saturday 2nd December 37401 "Mary Queen of Scots" failed at Wolverhampton 1D71 12:07 Birmingham New Street to Holyhead with an air leak. 37174 was dispatched from Bescot to drag the errant train to Chester for 156466 forward leaving Wolves about 58 late. 413 and 421 covered the other two coast diagrams on Saturday (not there are THREE coast diagrams on Saturdays until Virgin get themselves fixed up and start running proper trains to Holyhead again).
[Ed's notes:- The curse of Yorkshire continues! This is about the fifth or sixth time NB has dropped on the coast this year whilst I've been pre-occupied in Yorkshire with no hope of getting to the coast, and I'm not a regular visitor to Yorkshire! Excuse this time was a pair of grids to Rylstone, oh well you can't have everything I suppose!]
TOPS Report 06:00 04/12/00:
401 arr CREWE FLR, OK
405 DALMENY, N/LWA
408 INVERNESS, 6D42 to MILLERHILL
411 MOTHERWELL TMD, B/420 ok 10/12
412 RHYMNEY, 2V07
413 1K57 07:49 HOLYHEAD - CREWE (55)
415 FORT WILLIAM, 7Y31 assd. N/630 at ML 09/12.
416 FORT WILLIAM FLT, 7Y54
418 RHYMNEY, 2F06
419 MILLERHILL, 6H47 to IS;
421 CREWE HS, OK (60)
426 1D57 05:25 BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET - HOLYHEAD (36);
427 ABERDEEN, 6E43 to MOSSEND
428 SALTLEY LIP, waiting B/XAM
429 CREWEDMD N/421 ok 05/12
<Gen from Tim Proudman>
Of note is that 405 appears to have
failed at Dalmeny with Low Coolant, 408 is allocated 6D42 to Millerhill
(possibly swapping the Inverness standby with 37419?), 415 is assigned Traction
Motor repairs at Motherwell TMD on 9/12, 416 is still on hire to Freightliner,
428 is still sat at Saltley awaiting a B exam (been waiting for a few days now)
and 429 is under repair for its traction motor flashover at Crewe DMD and should
be back in traffic tomorrow (5th December).
Rhymney Shopper Special
The following diagram has been confirmed as the Rhymney - Cardiff Central shopper special and should run every Saturday to at least the 16th December although it isn't confirmed to run on the last Saturday before Christmas, 23rd December. As predicted it ran last weekend with 37418 at the helm all day.
2F12 09.10 Rhymney - Cardiff
Central
2R18 11.01 Cardiff Central - Rhymney
2F20 12.14 Rhymney - Cardiff Central
2R42 17.00 Cardiff Central - Rhymney
Thanks to Andrew Mist for confirmation
Scottish Gen
A round-up of 37/4 activity in Scotland over the past week by "a regular":
37415 has taken up residency at Fort William doing 7Y31 FW-Corpach and 7Y16 return on Thursday 30th November but derailed at Corpach on 7Y31. The loco was unable to to be re-railed that day and so the return was canceled. Friday morning saw the loco re-railed and ran light to Fort William for examination, the all clear was given and the loco has resumed its normal duties. This loco would usually do the sleeper as well but it is cancelled north of Edinburgh until 12/01/01. To swap the 37s 6E16 Fort William - North Blyth is used to bring it down and 6S54 North Blyth - Fort William.
37416 is on hire to Freightliner until Monday (4/12/00) after 37606 developed problems with its braking system which is being attended to at Motherwell. The 37/4 worked 7Y07 Coatbridge FLT-Fort William FLT and 7Y54 return today (2/12/00).
37419 was a resident at Fort William for several weeks and one of it's star turns was to rescue 37606 which had failed on the 7Y15 Coatbridge - Lochaber. The 37/4 dragged it into Fort William (I can't remember the date [reported in November News - Matt]). 419 was then exchanged for 427 which a week later was changed for 415 which remains there. 37408 is the standby loco at Inverness.
The rest of them work trips in and around Scotland occasionally venturing out to Perth, Deanside and various other places. 37419 was working out to Laurencekirk in place of one of the McCromptons (33025 at ML for repairs) today.
37405 is based at Millerhill and has worked trains out of Oxwellmains over the past several days.37427 has taken up residency at Aberdeen. It worked out to Laurencekirk today (usually a Class 33 turn) on 6A12 and then did 6A13 return.
The Class 37/4 Preservation Project
Its almost a month since this was let loose on an unsuspecting public and the response has been amazing! None of use expected this, we knew the sub-class was popular but this has been astounding. So much is going on behind the scenes to get this thing off the ground, most of the details cannot be released yet but lets just say the wheels are well and truly in motion. Nearly everyone is behind us, those who aren't don't matter - this thing is too big to stop now!
The meeting is still on for the afternoon of Saturday 16th December but the final checking on the location is still taking place so keep your diaries free for that day!
Cheers from all the team and keep the good work up - you know who you are!