Diesel Locomotives - British Rail Class 31-37: Illustrated History Books & Guides

British Type 3 Diesel Locomotives : Classes 33, 35, 37 and upgraded 31 (Modern Traction Profiles )

The Type 3 Diesel Locomotive album comprises over 200, mainly unpublished, full sized colour photographs of four classes of British engines, developed in the earlier years of the Modernisation Plan.

The Type 3 included four classes of locomotive of medium power output, which undertook a wide range of duties from Main line and local passenger services, various freight duties and departmental work.
Several are still in use on the national network, and can be seen in various parts of the country.

The Book has been compiled by David Cable. The photos illustrate the many duties and colour schemes of the classes in a variety of locations and colour schemes of the classes in a variety of locations, using largely unpublished photographs from his extensive collection.

Product details

Author:	David Cable
Details:	200 pages, 8.5 x 10 x 0.94 in (21.5 x 25.5 x 2.4 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	200+ color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2018)
ISBN:	9781473899681

Class 31 Locomotives

A pictorial tribute to the British Rail workhorse, the Class 31. Over 260 of these locos were built by Brush at Loughborough from 1958 onwards, and they would work on most regions for the next forty years, with a few examples still working today.

Working both passenger and freight trains, they were a success, although their original Mirrlees engines would be replaced with English Electric power units in the late 1960s.

They have worn many different liveries, with most being portrayed in this book. Unfortunately most have now gone for scrap, however quite a number have been preserved and can still be seen running on their preserved lines up and down the country.

This book acts as a personal recollection of a favourite class of loco. For those fortunate enough to have experienced the Class 31 locos in their prime, this book will offer a pleasing trip down memory lane. For those new to the class, it will highlight what you may have missed.

Product details

Author:	Andrew Cole
Details:	96 pages, 9.25 x 6.5 in (23.5 x 16.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	180 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing (GB, 2016)
ISBN:	9781445657912

Class 33s

In 1960, the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built a class of 98 locomotives, later to be designated Class 33s. They were capable of operating at up to 85mph and were equipped with a reliable 1,550hp Sulzer engine.
Three sub-classes were subsequently created, classified as the standard Class 33/0, the push-pull Class 33/1 and the narrow-bodied Class 33/2.

These locos were eventually used over a large area of operation, and throughout their careers worked both passenger and freight duties. The south of England saw the main bulk of their workings, with allocations split between Hither Green, Stewarts Lane and Eastleigh. During the 1980s, however, they were also diagrammed on passenger services much further afield, with workings including Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol/Cardiff/Swansea, Cardiff to Crewe/Manchester, and local services from Exeter to Barnstaple/Paignton/Plymouth. Following privatisation, freight company English Welsh & Scottish Railway even transferred Class 33s to Aberdeen, albeit not for very long.

Many of these useful locos have survived into the 21st century, both as attractions on heritage lines and in service with rail tour companies. With over 220 images, this book is a nostalgic pictorial record of the Class 33 locomotives around the UK.

Product details

Author:	Mark Pike
Details:	96 pages, 9.7 x 6.7 in (24.5 x 17 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	220 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2023)
Series:	Britain's Railways
ISBN:	9781802824797

Class 37 Locomotives

Well-proportioned, versatile, aesthetic, durable - the English Electric Class 37, the great survivor of the modernisation-plan diesel fleet, deserves all of these accolades and more.
Never as celebrated as the Deltics, never as idolised as the Westerns, always intended to be a workhorse; this is the locomotive that has, in many ways, surpassed its more illustrious peers as an example of all that is best in motive power design and engineering.

This pictorial collection contains nearly 200 photographs of one of the best loved of diesel types, compiled by Andrew Walker with contributions from other photographers who, like him, have always been drawn to these great British locomotives.
The Class 37s always roamed far and wide over the national network, and this book covers locations ranging from the Scottish Highlands to South Wales, showing the 37s on freight and passenger duties, at depots and in works.

Showcasing images from the 1970s through to the present day, the book provides detailed captions with in-depth technical specifications and information on the individual locos, their history and operation in traffic, and features many of the class variants and their liveries over the decades.

Product details

Author:	Andrew Walker, John Walker, Vaughan Hellam
Details:	96 pages, 9.25 x 6.5 in (23.5 x 16.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	180 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing (GB, 2016)
ISBN:	9781445657370

The English Electric Class 37/4 Diesel Locomotives

In the prelude to the privatisation of BR the Provincial Sector (later Regional Railways) became responsible for local / secondary train services and initiated the refurbishment of 31 Class 37 locomotives, fitted with train heating equipment - hence designated Class 37/4 - to support the shortfall of DMU trainsets.
Their initial task was to work services on Scottish lines radiating from Inverness to points north and Glasgow to service the West Highland Line with a small batch based in South Wales to service Cambrian Line services and services from Cardiff traversing the Marches Line to serve Liverpool.
These services were soon replaced by Sprinter trainsets thus releasing the fleet to other duties including freight operators hence, at privatisation in April 1994, the fleet became owned by freight companies who subsequently hired locomotives to both other freight companies and passenger operators.
Throughout their working life the fleet members have proved invaluable and capable of powering a variety of services whose history confirms both the locomotives' adaptability and prowess in handling the duties allocated to them.

Fred Kerr's book seeks to show this adaptability by detailing the reason for their initial creation and the tasks successfully undertaken once released from their initial roles as support for the shortage of DMU trainsets.
The advent of privatisation saw an increased demand for their 'go-anywhere do anything' ability which is also displayed by the range of photographs that illustrate the wide range of duties performed by class members.
Once withdrawn from service some class members were purchased for preservation and - such was their adaptability - that preserved examples were hired by train operators to cover duties that no other class of diesel locomotive was capable of achieving.

Product details

Author:	Fred Kerr
Details:	126 pages, 11.6 x 9.1 x 0.75 in (29.5 x 23 x 1.9 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	250 color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2022)
ISBN:	9781399096133