37425 stabled at Shrub Hill.
Posted: 12:15 Thursday 5th August 2021
DRS Class 37 37425, 'Sir Robert McAlpine' / 'Concrete Bob' has been stabled at Shrub Hill since Tuesday 3 August 2021. It was left after working a freight contract and the driver had run out of hours. Not sure how long it will remain, but it looks like a station pilot from the old days! This locomotive was built 07/65 as D6992, renumbered 02/74 to 37292 and re-engineered circa 09/85 when it was fitted with alternator in place of DC main generator plus re-geared Deltic bogies - maximum speed reduced from 90 MPH to 80 MPH.
This class was used extensively on the Birmingham New Street to Holyhead service in the 1990s and generally ran to time with 4 and 5 coach trains without exceeding 80 MPH, however in the era before 'black boxes' some surprising turns of speed close to magic 100 MPH were recorded as per attached logs. However, with a relatively low 1,400 HP at the wheels, with a 10 coach train grossing nearly 500 tons the locomotive only gave 3 HP per ton which led to rather more pedestrian running especially on uphill gradients!
