Diesel stories

5 working Class 37 locomotives, diesel rides, trade & display stands and
much more to celebrate 50 years of Class 37.

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A selection of the diesel stories submitted so far to our competition to start up D6700 on the day of the event. You can send us your own story and photos on the diesel competition page.

Click the yellow arrow on the right of the box to start browsing the stories.

    • Darren Webb

      Poulton-Le-Fylde

      37 in the garden
      "I have liked trains since I was 5 when my father got me interested, and since then I have never looked back. You cannot beat the sound of a 37."
      "I'm now 47 and my interest in 37s has got worse. Last year I bought No.2 end cab from 37377 D6900 at Booths Scrapyard. My 4-year-old son and I have been working hard to get it looking at it would in the 1980s. He would rather be working on the cab than playing with his toys!"

    • Phil Munt

      Huddersfield

      Vibrating bed
      "I used to live in Lockwood in Huddersfield, just across from the station. We could not go to sleep til the Class 37 came into the station at about 11.45pm every night. I think it was a track-cleaning train, spreading Sandite on the line."
      "As it prepared to leave – backwards, because it couldn't go any further due to wait restrictions on the next bridge – it used to rev up and pull out of the station. I remember my bed moving across the floor with the vibration. Fantastic! Fantastic sound, awesome power!"

    • Danny Savage

      Leeds

      Evening freight rumble
      "The deep rumble of a 37 could always be heard long before it was seen. A sound forever associated with my childhood. As my father played bowls on a summers evening on the edge of Ipswich, I would always listen out for the evening freight services to Felixstowe. The double headed train could usually be heard it as it came through Westerfield Station and I would dash to the edge of the field to see it approaching the Tuddenham Road bridge."
      "I never got bored with watching the awesome power of these engines passing by. And as I lived within earshot of the line, the night movements of the heavyweight 37s even haunted my sleep."

    • Paul Cheesemore

      Stevanage

      Class 37 fan
      "Its not really a story, but – having got into having tattoos in my later years (I'm 43) and being a diesel fan, I have a Class 37 tattoo on my left calf."

    • Alan Nicklin

      Edinburgh

      Nose-down in 37137
      "I once drove 37137 back in the early '80s, from Granton Square in Edinburgh up to Granton Gasworks to uplift oil wagons."
      "I was in the Royal Navy at the time and based at the Royal Navy Reserve HQ in Granton. I met the driver through a mutual friend whilst 37137 was parked opposite the HQ waiting to move up to the gasworks."
      "It was great – apart from applying the wrong brakes for the then empty train which found both the driver and myself almost nose down on the console and also giving a blast on the horn, which frightened the life out of a pal who had no idea it was me driving. Great days."

    • Andrew Carter

      Banbury

      90mph in pitch black
      "Many years ago while working as a nurse, I had to take the train to work from Didcot to Oxford. I was on night duty in wintertime, and my train (a CL47 with MK2 coaches arrived at Didcot. It was snowing and cold."
      "As I prepared to get in the coach there was a shout from the loco – it was my brother-in-law, who was a driver. He said 'Do you want to go to work in style?' I replied I would, so he told me to hop into the cab."
      "I enjoyed a breathtaking ride at speeds up to 90mph in pitch black with snow hitting the windscreen and the wipers working overtime. The roar of the engine, the warning bells and the sheer sense of power made for an exhilarating ride to work!"

    • Darren Wilson

      York

      Surprise approach
      "I remember the day when Ed Burkhardt handed over D6700 to the Museum, and I decided to try and photograph the loco when she was working on the main line."
      "I set off to Doncaster, and stood with my camera all set up while waiting for her to come through. I looked southwards to see an approacing HST – and as the HST came in, the D6700 sneaked in from the north and roared past."
      "I missed my shot but was glad just to see and hear this fine loco in action. I'm glad she is in good hands and on display to the public."

    • David Stuart, aged 15

      Preston

      37408 and 405
      "My dad took me and my brother to have my first ride on a loco-hauled train to Carlisle. We drove to Skipton, and in came 37408 and 405 top and tailed."
      "We got on and the noise was superb as it thrashed away. I window-hanged most of the way over the scenic route. The 37s worked superbly all the way there and back, and when we returned to Skipton the driver gave us a tone and plenty of clag as they departed."
      "My dream is to be in the cab of a 37, with starting it up as a bonus."

    • Philip Raw

      Derbyshire

      Encounter with Deltic
      "It was sometime in 1959 or 1960 when I came up from South Wales to spend a short holiday with my Auntie Daisy in South Woodford, Essex. She suggested a trip down to Southend."
      "Later, heading for the coast having left Stratford Station East London, we soon paralleled, on an adjoining track, a magnificient light blue and yellow machine called DELTIC."
      "I suppose from that moment on, running alongside this future National Railway Museum star, that an interest in diesel traction was a mere formality. It was a few years later when I was to be introduced to another English Electric product, later to become the Class 37, with D6742 and D6743 allocated to Newport and Radyr sheds in South Wales."
      "Yes, we do need to celebrate their 50th Anniversary and the National Railway Museum is the most fitting place."

    • Robert Firth

      Buckinghamshire

      The Preservation Touch
      "My story relates to my early years and my first interest in BR diesels in the mid-1980s."
      "I kept a record of the numbers of each class of diesel that I saw or 'spotted' – and in particular, the numbers of the very first one of a class that I saw. Having looked back at my notes from 25 years ago, a pattern emerged, my first 'spots' of each of the mainline classes were as follows: 20059, 25191, 26004, 27059, 31101, 33008, 37119, 40122, 45041, 47401, 50049 and 56040."
      "Every single one of these 'first spots' of mine have subsequently been preserved! It will be quite something to see whether or not in the future, 58009, 59001 and 60061 become preserved as they too were the first of a class that I had seen!"

    • David Taylor

      Dudley

      Summer Saturdays
      "The thrill of travelling behind a pair of 37s on the Euston - Aberystwyth most summer Saturdays... the roar of the engines and the thrash... excellent."

    • Lindsay Pomfrett

      Derbyshire

      Taking the engine to pieces
      "When my brother owned 37214 at Barrow Hill, I had a short cab ride as he was putting it away for the evening. I was so proud when it had a debut at KWV the following summer."
      "Unfortunately it blew up not long after my brother sold it. He now owns 37152 and that is at Peak Rail at the moment. I've got some belting photos of us painting and taking the engine to pieces. We have had some good fun camping out at Peak rail. Can't wait for the Jublilee at York in a couple of weeks."

    • Graham Machin

      Bedlington

      Driving the beast
      "Many years ago as a 'youth', I was brought up in the Hull area and was frequently to be found spotting on Paragon station."
      "I remember that on one particular day, one of the Scarborough turns had D6732 and a rack of coaches running in place of the regular Diesel Multiple Unit. The incoming service was sent in to Platform 1, which had no run-round facility so the station pilot was used to shunt release the stock."
      "Standing alongside the 37, the driver called me up into the cab and we followed the stock to the end of the platform where we stopped at the red. He then offered me the seat and I drove the beast out into the station throat and then back in to the platform after the pilot had left. Boy - was I now hooked on railways!"
      "Best wishes for the birthday event."

    • Howard Bolton

      Mirfield

      A passion for diesels
      "Many people believe that the diesel locomotive will never stir the emotions like the old steam locomotives. I disagree. I first developed a passion for diesels as a 15-year-old schoolboy in 1963. Early trainspotting trips had led me to visit and then regularly work on the Middleton Railway in Leeds. Along with fellow enthusiasts Bob, John and George, we began a two year stint of operating the commercial freight traffic. Shunter duties, guard duties, sometimes secondman (fireman) duties and considerable loco maintenance duties came my way."
      "Together the four of us played a not insignificant part in running the service and maintaining the diesel locomotive we treasured. This was no ordinary diesel shunter. It was a pioneer: 'John Alcock', perhaps better known as LMS 7051."
      "It is some years since I have seen the loco, but I remember it fondly, along with the many friends I made. It left me with an intense passion for diesel locomotives of any kind and to this day I still champion and see them whenever I can. This does not always resonate well with family or friends who can see what there is to rejoice with a steam locomotive, but a diesel..! Of course I know differently."

    • Calum Cholmondeley

      Darlington

      Starting up 55009
      "In early 2006, when I was 9, my passion for all things trains hadn't really ignited. I liked to travel up to my local station and watch the trains go by with my dad. Also, the East Coast Main Line ran past my grandma's back garden so you can see where it all started."
      "Then, I was thrilled to discover that the 2nd ACoRP station event was to be held at Darlington station. My local station! And my my dad was due to 'babysit' 55009 on behalf of the Deltic Preservation Society."
      "One of the DPS volunteers came up to help my dad check that the loco's remaining engine was in good order for a start-up. When it came to the time to start up, my dad offered me the chance to press the button, which I eagerly accepted of course."
      "From there on I have travelled behind mainline locomotives across the network and travelled on trains all over the country. A great weekend, a great hobby and a great place to celebrate the anniversary of such an iconic locomotive type. Thank you."

    • Derek Phillips

      Chard

      Frome to Bristol
      "I remember my very first trip on a GWR diesel railcar back in 1947, when my father took my brother and me from Frome station in Somerset to Bristol to visit my auntie and uncle. To myself as a young boy this was marvellous, and I can still remember the smell and noise of the diesel engine as it rumbled along."

    • Malcolm Conway

      Stockton-on-Tees

      The advent of diesels
      "In October 1957, I completed my apprenticeship in the Locomotive Workshops at Doncaster Plant Works and moved into the Locomotive Drawing Office. The drawing office overlooked sidings and platform 8 at Doncaster Station."
      "In the office were several men who were approaching retirement age, and who had worked with Gresley. At this time diesel locos were arriving at the works for trial runs on the main line. The diesels came out of the works along the front of the offices and out onto the main line to commence their trial run. A good number of the diesels broke down and later in the day were towed in by an old steam loco much to the delight of Gresley’s men."

    • Stephen Stepney

      Bolton

      American diesel?
      "In the late 50s or early 60s, I was at Gorton Station in Manchester. Went running home to my dad to tell him I had just seen a big blue American diesel pass with maroon stock behind it... I now know it was Deltic. Never did find out what it was working."
      "We also had new 37s going to Doncaster once with a baby Deltic, and once with DP2. Happy days."

    • Steve Read

      Milton Keynes

      In a flap
      "I was a secondman at Stratford. One day, driving 37087 with a now-deceased driver while working the Charrington tanks from Stratford to Cambridge, we entered Audley End tunnel. As we exited it, I noticed a swan flying about 8ft off the ground, on a collision course with our 37 nose."
      "There was a loudish bang. My old driver decided to open the nose door to see if there was any damage. The swan had broken the weld on the top of the nose gangway door, and we both got covered in white feathers."
      "We pulled into the Cambridge Down platform, got out, and were told that we both looked like Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in Stir Crazy... covered in feathers!"
      "Note that 37087 now has a plated over-door – now you know why."

    • Noel Herbert

      Ruskington

      A soaking
      "At the time diesel locos were being introduced, I was working in the parcel office at Lincoln Central station. I remember one day a passenger train drew into the station and the loco, a Brush Type 2 (class 31 as they became), stopped opposite the parcel office doors, which were open."
      "The next thing we saw was the secondman standing on top of the engine and the driver swinging the watercrane bag (used for watering steam locos) over to the secondman, who placed the bag into the top of the loco."
      "Obviously the driver thought he required some water and at the time this was the only way of getting it. Unfortunately the secondman pulled the bag too far across and when the driver turned the water on, instead of the water going into the loco, it shot upwards as the bag was trapped."
      "The secondman was bent over watching for the water going into the loco, and the next thing his hat was going upwards on a spout of water. After this standpipes were introduced for watering from ground level."

    • Paul Vincent

      Wigan

      Rail Roving
      "The best summer I spent was in the steaming hot summer of 1983, on an All Line Rail Rover."
      "Travelled on loads of different class diesel haulage including 37219 – it tells you what a week we had when you step off an HST at Donny at midday, and it's 102 degrees! We had runs behind 25s, 33s, 37, 40, 45, 46, 47, 50 and Deltic (probably my personal fave)."
      "We also took the overnight sleeper from Brum to Inverness. How I miss the good old compartment stock. We also took in Stratford Open Day and depot visits around March and Haymarket. And all for £100! Good days."

    • Stephen Batty

      Gwent

      Working on D7672
      "April 1989 - 30 March 1991, Holbeck, Leeds. I got involved with D7672, also known as Tamworth Castle, for three years – replacing engine parts with new, or from the last locos scattered around the UK.
      "I spent a great three years on her, and it was the best experience I had – I still could not work for British Rail after schooling in 1990."
      "Her last run from Leeds to Holyhead was on 31 March 1991. We had 12 Mk1s from Holyhead to Chester at a max speed of 62mph, and no help up Miles Platting with 31160. The last sighting was on her way to MC Metals through Armley, Canal Road Bridge that same year."
      "Congrats on all the work at the National Railway Museum, and the new chief in charge. All the best for the future!"

    • Dave Shell

      Bedlington

      Diesel restoration
      "I own a 1949 American Locomotive Company-built Bo-Bo locomotive that had been out of use for more than 20 years at the time my company bought it."
      "Many people said it would be non-restorable and that we had wasted our time and money on it. However after about 60 manhours, we were able to press the engine start button and be rewarded with the locomotive starting after a bit of cranking."
      "We then went on to do the same with another loco of the same type at Peterborough."

    • Paul Gerrard

      Norwich

      Class 37s at Cardiff
      "When I was younger we would take a family holiday to Tenby, South Wales quite a lot. One time we went to Cardiff for the day. While waiting on the platform for the train home, the steel train roared through."
      "At the time, it was hauled by three Class 37s, which was an amazing sight and sound as they powered through the station. From then on I loved the Class 37 with its unusual shape, and then most of the other English Electric engined locomotives including the Class 50."

    • Michael Gibbons

      West Midlands

      A diesel first
      "My story is simple: I believe I was the only enthusiast on 17:40 Paddington - Wolverhampton when 50031 shut down unexpectedly."
      "The driver managed to restart it and made it to Banbury, where 58028 was taken from its MGR train onto the Wolverhampton service. So from Banbury to Wolverhampton, 58028 and 50031 were both hauling the train in tandem – and this was confirmed by both drivers at Wolverhampton."
      "A first for these two types at the time I think."

    • Michael Duffy

      Leeds

      To Morecambe
      "I can remember going to Morecombe from Leeds through Kirkstall on a diesel back in the late 1960s, with my auntie and uncle."

Background: D6700