RailRoad Plus BR, Class 37, Co-Co, 37116 ‘Comet’- Era 8

RailRoad Plus BR, Class 37, Co-Co, 37116 ‘Comet’- Era 8

The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan. They were numbered in two series, D6600–D6608 and D6700–D6999.

The Class 37 became a familiar sight on many parts of the British Rail network, in particular forming the main motive power for InterCity services in East Anglia and within Scotland. They also performed well on secondary and inter-regional services for many years. The Class 37s are known to some railway enthusiasts as ‘tractors’, a nickname due to the agricultural sound of the diesel engine of the locomotive.

As part of the large scale dieselisation brought about by the British Rail modernisation plan a need was identified for a number of type 3 locomotives of power output 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) to 1,999 hp (1,491 kW). English Electric had already been successful with orders for type 1 and type 4 diesels, and had produced locomotives of similar power for railways in East Africa. A design based on the exported locomotives was put forward and accepted. The design was for a general purpose locomotive and initially found service in British Rail’s Eastern Region.

Originally named D6816 and now 37116 under the TOPS system, ‘Comet’ was released from the English Electric Vulcan Foundry in 1962. Colas Rail owns ex-preservation locomotives 37057, 37099, 37116, 37175, 37219, 37254, 37421, all currently operational and ‘Comet’ among them.