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Scottish Class 37s

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HST43108

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Before the arrival of the 37/4s to the Scottish Region what were the numbers of the longterm Class 37s based throughout Scotland and what were the main depots they were allocated too. Cheers
 
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47271

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Likewise to my answer on The Clansman, for an exact record find an old Ian Allan depot directory online.

Otherwise, my vague recollection is that most if not all Scottish 37s were based at Motherwell until they appeared in quantity at Eastfield and Inverness around 1981 to replace 27s and 26s on the West Highland and North lines.

Those routes were still steam heat on mk1 coaches in the early 80s (hence the ETHEL bodge with mk3 sleepers to Fort William) and, again vague memories tell me, 37/4s were only converted and appeared around 1984 along with some decent ETH mk2s, possibly even a few aircon examples on the WHL.
 

sprinterguy

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The class 37s used on duties on the West Highland and Far North lines were based at Eastfield and Inverness depots respectively following their introduction in 1981. The following information is taken from "Scottish Class 37s Volume One" by Nick Meskell:

Eastfield depot
In the summer of 1982, Eastfield depot had an allocation of 31 class 37s, which had been primarily reallocated from East Anglian depots at Stratford and March. All of those listed below were fitted with air and vacuum brakes as well as steam heat boilers, unless otherwise stated:

37012 "Loch Rannoch"
37014
37018 (Air and vacuum brakes, no train heat)
37022
37026 "Loch Awe"
37027 "Loch Eil"
37028
37033
37037
37039
37043 "Loch Lomond"
37051
37081 "Loch Long"
37085
37108
37111 "Loch Eil Outward Bound" (Named 1985)
37112
37117 (Vacuum braked only, no train heat)
37144 (No train heat)
37147 (No train heat)
37149 (No train heat)
37157 (No train heat)
37179 (Steam heat boiler isolated)
37184
37188 "Jimmy Shand" (Named 1985)
37190
37191 "International Youth Year 1985" (Named 1985)
37192
37196 (Vacuum braked only, no train heat)
37237 (No train heat)
37253 (Vacuum braked only, no train heat)

By the summer of 1984, Eastfield depot had gained a further thirteen class 37s, bringing the total allocation to 44, to replace fifteen class 25s on freight duties:
37011 (Transferred from Inverness)
37013 (Vacuum braked only, no train heat)
37090 (Vacuum braked only)
37124 (No train heat)
37148 (No train heat)
37150 (No train heat)
37151 (No train heat)
37152 (No train heat)
37171 (No train heat)
37172 (No train heat)
37175
37178
37263
37264 (No train heat)

Inverness depot
Inverness depot had a small allocation of nine lass 37s, for use exclusively on the Far North lines. This was the situation in summer 1982, although as with Eastfield the allocation remained fairly static until the 37/4s began to come in during 1986:

37011 (Vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler, subsequently moved to Eastfield)
37017 (Vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37025 (Vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37035 (Vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37114 "Dunrobin Castle" (Vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler, named 1985)
37183 (Air and vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37260 "Radio Highland" (Air and vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37261 "Caithness" (Air and vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
37262 "Dounreay" (Air and vacuum brakes, steam heat boiler)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Otherwise, my vague recollection is that most if not all Scottish 37s were based at Motherwell until they appeared in quantity at Eastfield and Inverness around 1981 to replace 27s and 26s on the West Highland and North lines.
The details I have pre-1981 are sketchy, but there appears to have been a batch delivered new to South Wales in 1963, D6837 - D6857 and later 37137 - 157, which subsequently moved to Scotland in August/September 1966 and were allocated to Haymarket and Polmadie depots, before being settled at Eastfield in 1972. Some remained there until late 1979/early 1980, when they were reallocated to Motherwell.

For reference, 37056/117/125/133/137/139/145/150/152/154 - 156 are shown as being allocated to Motherwell depot at the end of 1982. Evidently there's a bit of crossover with those Eastfield locos listed above.
 
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Taunton

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There were a good number of Class 37 based in Scotland in the 1970s, principally around Glasgow and the Central Belt, all of one batch I seem to recall, allocated to Eastfield and almost wholly on freight, although I once had a spirited run on a late running Edinburgh-Glasgow High Speed where rear loco had a Class 37 standing in for the normal Class 27. They seemed popular on block trains of oil, cement, etc, which were fully braked (by no means standard then), although being a Co-Co and having a more substantial braking force they might have been better on unbraked freights than the usual dogsbody Class 27. I also recall most of the few trains I noted on the Coatbridge-Bathgate-Edinburgh line, freight only then, had one in charge.
 
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sprinterguy

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Those routes were still steam heat on mk1 coaches in the early 80s (hence the ETHEL bodge with mk3 sleepers to Fort William) and, again vague memories tell me, 37/4s were only converted and appeared around 1984 along with some decent ETH mk2s, possibly even a few aircon examples on the WHL.
The first class 37/4s were released from works at the end of June 1985.

I can't imagine that air-con mark 2s were ever a regular feature of West Highland train services outside of the sleeper workings: Mark 1s seem to have made up the greater part of train formations on the West Highland line as late as 1988, with early mark 2s also making an appearance primarily in the form of mark 2A brake firsts. There's even evidence to show that the mark 3 sleepers were formed with mark 1 and early mark 2 seated stock in their early days on the Fort William sleeper. I have however seen photos of air-con mark 2s being included in West Highland formations for attachment to Intercity services southbound from Glasgow.
 
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HST43108

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That's a lot of information Sprinterguy/47271 , many thanks to you all again. I will try and get my hands on Ian Allan depot books going forward.
Another question that comes from the above is when the 37/4s landed did they by extension push out some of the 37s that were on Scottish books at the time out to other depots around the UK or where they retained and just moved around Scottish Depots
 

sprinterguy

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Yes, all of the original Eastfield 37s were pushed out by the arrival of the 37/4s, primarily between 1985 and 1987. Some (37012/014/026/033/037/051/108/111/148/184/188/190) remained in Scotland and went to Motherwell, while the rest went back to the sorts of English and Welsh depots that they'd been transferred away from in the first place: Cardiff and Swansea Landore primarily, with a few going to Stratford and Thornaby.

The Inverness based Far North locos were different in that all but one of them (37260, which was withdrawn during 1989) transferred into Eastfield depot during 1986 and 1990.

Some of the former Eastfield based 37/0s were converted into class 37/3s in 1986 for air-brake only fitted Scottish steel traffic, primarily stemming from Ravenscraig, along with a few of the established Motherwell based freight locos. These were numbered in a series between 37310 - 314, and 37320 - 326. They were allocated to Motherwell and renumbered and named as follows:

37152 - 37310 "British Steel Ravenscraig"
37156 - 37311 "British Steel Hunterston"
37137 - 37312 "Clyde Iron"
37145 - 37313
37190 - 37314 "Dalzell"
37026 - 37320 "Shap Fell"
37037 - 37321 "Gartcosh"
37049 - 37322 "Imperial"
37088 - 37323 "Clydesdale"
37099 - 37324 "Clydebridge"
37108 - 37325 "Lanarkshire Steel"
37111 - 37326 "Glengarnock"
 
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HST43108

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Great stuff, while I could read this stuff for hours this gives me exactly what I was after Sprinterguy very concisely. Thanks again
 
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