Diesel locomotives - British Rail Class 37: books - history

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.

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.

Class 37s

The English Electric Type 3 (later Class 37) was introduced from the late 1950s to the early 1960s at a time when the writing was on the wall for steam traction in the UK. It was designed to be a general-purpose loco that was equally at home on freight or passenger trains.
Class 37s have become a firm favourite over the years, partially due to the sheer variety of places they could be seen. They served with BR in the Eastern Region, on freight lines in South Wales and across multiple lines in Scotland.

There have been very few routes that this class has not operated at some point. Over the years, they have proved reliable workhorses for UK railways. They have had a great variety of names and liveries and are known by enthusiasts for the impressive sound they emit at full power.
Today, they are still run by a number of operators and there are no plans for dispensing with the class any time soon. With over 200 images, this book is an illustrated celebration of Class 37s throughout the years.