- Class: Class 37
- Type: English Electric Type 3
- Built: 1963
- Numbers Carried: 37151 and 37667
- Withdrawn: 2006
- Returned To Service: 2013
- Operated: LSL
- Current Status: Mainline Operational
- Present Location: Crewe
- Owned By: Locomotive Services Limited
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The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive, also known as the English Electric Type 3. The Class were brought into service as a part of the 1955 Modernisation plan to replace steam traction . The class were numbered in two series, D6600-D6608 and D6700-D6999. The Class 37 became a familiar sight across the entire BR network and were extremely versatile and very popular machines . They also performed well on secondary and inter-regional services for many years. They gain the nickname of ‘Tractors’, due to their distinctive sound when under load. Class 37’s could be seen as far afield as the Scottish Highlands, North Wales Coast and Cornwall. The class were also a common feature on Southern Region metals, so they are a fitting addition to this year’s Diesel Gala line up for 2024.
D6851 was introduced in 1963 and initially served in South Wales from new. It was renumbered twice in the spell of its BR career, 37151 and 37667. The loco also carried two names prior its current name on the mainline, the first being ‘Wensleydale’ in 1988 (which lasted less than two years) before being renamed as ‘Meldon Quarry Centenary’ in 1997. Having spanned a career up and down the entire BR network, it was withdrawn by EWS in 2006, where afterwards it passed into private ownership with HNRC and then DRS ownership before eventually being bought by its current owners, Locomotive Services Limited, in 2017.
The locomotive was named ‘Flopsie’ at Crewe in 2021 and carries an 1960’s BR Brunswick Green Livery and has reverted back to its pre TOPS number of D6851.
A large group of Class 37’s remain active on the national network in private ownership and preservation. A testament of the design and legacy of this first generation diesel design.
