EE Type 3's (37's) on Preston - Barrow - Carlisle workings.

Been promising myself a trip on the 10.04 Preston to Barrow for a while and finally did it this morning (as far as Carnforth). For the 21 miles between Preston and Lancaster she was at 80 mph+ for 16 of them, hitting a top speed of 89 between Bay Horse and Galgate (according to the speedo on my phone). Wondrous!



http://www.class37info.co.uk/cumbrian2015.aspx

 

Good.....but surely not the quite the same as the last weekend of steam on the 'Belfast Boat Express'?

 

Last year a WCRC "37" rescued us when Duchess of Sutherland got a hot box at Ferryhill. I was amazed at the turn of speed and the way we recovered most of the huge deficit by Derby. We tend to forget that their hp. is similar to the Scots.

 

Of course not...but it'll do for now!

 

37 401 Sorth bound at Ravenglass, then South bound at Carlisle in the summer. Mid December at Ravenglass at 1820.

 

One thing I wonder about the class 37 is why they designed it with 3 single windows in front and not 2 as the deltics?

 

Possibly the question should be why did Deltics only have two?

Class 40s were first, and for whatever reason had three, and the 37s followed with a similar design.

Also, of course, the "Baby Deltics" had the traditional three window design.

The nose of a Deltic seems higher than that of the other classes, so maybe the three window design looked wrong when applied to it, and the two window design of the prototype and the production Deltics was simply used for aesthetic reasons?

 

Could it be something to do with the size of toughened glass that could be manufactured when the locos were first built?

Cheers, Neil

 

Blimey Knut...talk about a resurrection.. Four years after the last post ! It was good whilst it lasted

 

Thanks for your reply staffordian! A matter of taste of course but I think the two window design looks better aesthetic. Could be fun to "photoshop" a picture of a class 37 and insert 2 windows in front just as an example

Knut

 

Remember that at the time they were ordered, the locos were designed with a connecting corridor in the nose so perhaps the middle window, positioned as it is above the connection entry, is an extra support to avoid stress on the window - especially had a 2-piece window been adopted.

 

Sorry, it's only a five minute rough and ready job, and apologies to 60017 for ruining a great photo

 

Possibly, when the 31's were built they had their middle windows on their cab fronts built with a corrido Connection in mind.

 

Thanks a lot staffordian! Amazing how much that changed the appearance!

Knut

 

Not if you had to use the service for anything beyond leisure purposes it was not.

 

In the nostalgia world, real passengers are invisible

 

Oh, on the days I wasn't depending on them to meet with clients it made a nice change, however when I was using them 'professionally' the buggers had a habit of failing (or failing to even arrive!)

 

My brother decided to have a go on this service soon after it was introduced. Train from St Anne's to Preston, onto the 37 hauled service and away on time. Got a few yards along the platform, came to a stop and much revving of the 37 ensued.

The service was cancelled a few minutes later with brake issues. Not sure if he ever did manage a successful trip...