Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI/AI images rather than photographs
Prototype Eras
Era 9 (1995 to 2004) Initial Privatisation
Era 11 (2016 to 2026) The Last Days of Privatisation
Manufacturer description
Entering service as the English Electric Type 3, the British Rail Class 37 diesel locomotives were built at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows in a Co-Co configuration, based on locomotive designs for export markets. Built to undertake both freight and passenger work across all BR sectors, these engines proved highly reliable and, after overhaul, many survived in service across the network into the 1990s.
British Rail first placed an order for forty-two Class 37 locomotives in January 1959, the first of which was delivered in November 1960, entering service on 2 December with the last of this original batch complete by mid-1962, by which time subsequent orders had been placed. The last of the 309 locomotives built was delivered to the Western Region on 9 November 1965, originally numbered in the range D6700-D6999 and D6600-D6608.
Locomotive D6817 was built in March 1963 and renumbered to 37117 under the TOPS system in 1974. In 1988 the locomotive was refurbished and renumbered becoming Class 37/5 37421.
After privatisation of British Rail the locomotive passed to EWS ownership and remined in service until 2007. After a few years in storage the locomotive was purchased by the Harry Needle Railroad Company before being sold again in 2013 to Direct Rail Services. The locomotive was later purchased by a private owner before being purchased by Colas Rail Freight in 2018.
Product videos
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Catalogue listing
Model details
Prototype information
Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns
Colas Rail
DB Cargo
Direct Rail Services
Europhoenix
EWS
Locomotive Services Ltd
Rail Operations Group
West Coast Railway Co
* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.
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