Class 37 - How long can they really last

[sprinterguy]

The Porterbrook website only lists the 15 locos on lease to AGA ....

https://www.porterbrook.co.uk/rolling-stock/fleet

The same website used as a source by yourself in your previous post also states the following though:

In the past, the FL90s had always been a mixed traffic loco and it is good to see 28 years later that this practice continues. The locos used by this operator are owned by Porterbrook and are subsequently leased to Freightliner.

Also RAIL Magazine, from July this year:

Freightliner to overhaul fleet of Class 90s’ using component exchange
Rail (UK)
2 Jul 2016

Freightliner 90041 is expected to be out of traffic for a year, while it donates components for a bogie overhaul.

FL is to carry out the work on all ten of its Class 90s (90016/041-049). The company will carry out the work internally at Leeds Midland Road, with a component exchange scheme planned.

This means that 90041 will donate its bogies and components, which will be overhauled and fitted to the next ‘90’ to arrive at the Yorkshire depot. When the entire project is complete, 90041 will be the last to return to traffic, receiving the overhauled bogies and equipment from the ninth ‘90’ to have visited Leeds.

FL moved 90041 to Leeds on June 14, hauling it on the 0755 IpswichLeeds intermodal. It was taken via the non-electrified Fenland route via Peterborough, having arrived in the Suffolk town with an intermodal from Trafford Park.

FL leases its Class 90s from Porterbrook, but has recently been hiring four per day to GB Railfreight for use on the Caledonian Sleeper operations, while GBRf Class 92s undergo modifications to improve their reliability.

The loss of the ‘90s’ has been covered by the use of Class 66s and ‘70s’ on intermodal trains. These have been made available by the loss of coal traffic in FL’s Heavy Haul business.

And backed up in written form by Platform 5s' stock list and by ABrail online.

 

[LeylandLen]

With the Class 37 being among the oldest Trains still in daily Service i was wondering just how much longer they can go on for and exactly why operators have shown such loyalty towards them?

So approx how many class 37s and sub classes are running on the system? I know thers one on NYMR ,maybe others privately owned?

 

[CosherB]

The same website used as a source by yourself in your previous post also states the following though.

Also RAIL Magazine, from July this year.

And backed up in written form by Platform 5s stock list and ABrail online.

Fair enough, I stand corrected!

 

[sprinterguy]

So approx how many class 37s and sub classes are running on the system? I know thers one on NYMR ,maybe others privately owned?

I didn't think that the NYMRs' class 37, assuming that you mean 37264, was passed for use on the main line. Even if it was, would it not still be restricted to the section between Battersby Junction and Whitby as per the lines' class 25?

The class 37 situation on the mainline is fluid. Mainly to bring this thread back on topic from class 90s (sorry about that ) I present the list below as a rough guide to those locos currently in use on the main line and their operators, although I willingly concede that there may be some error in the totals for each sub-class. More locos, mainly of the 37/0 and 37/4 sub-classes, are currently being prepared for a return to main line service.

Class 37/0: 10 locos. DRS, Colas and Privately owned.
Class 37/4: 11 locos. Mainly DRS, one Colas.
Class 37/5: 7 locos. West Coast Railway Co, DRS.
Class 37/6: 12 locos. DRS, Europhoenix.
Class 37/7: 4 locos. DRS, West Coast Railway Co, Europhoenix (In use with Rail Operations Group)

Class 97/3: 4 locos. Network Rail, ERTMS fitted for use on the Cambrian line.

There's also a few locos in store around the network, too: West Coast Railway Co. have a few at Carnforth, and there's a pair of class 37/9s at the UK Rail site at Leicester.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Why would DRS want to spend any money or effort repairing a heavily stripped Arriva owned loco (unless it's been sold on again, but I wouldn't have thought so given that DRS don't operate any 90s)?

Forum running joke......

Along with 45 015, 46 009 and the entire 442 fleet......

 

[sprinterguy]

Forum running joke......

Along with 45 015, 46 009 and the entire 442 fleet......

Ah, fair enough, went straight over my head, that.

 

[trac]

Do the 37's have an achilles hill? At this point in time is an unrefurbished 37 any more of a reliability or have the mainline ones had their wiring/internal systems renewed?

 

[route:oxford]

Do the 37's have an achilles hill? At this point in time is an unrefurbished 37 any more of a reliability or have the mainline ones had their wiring/internal systems renewed?

Their achilles heel is probably the same thing that has kept them going - the fact that they are a fairly unrefined lump of metal.

 

[The Growl]

To reply to the OPs question, hopefully as soon as battery, and hybrid techology advances, or until we electrify everything (Which is quite expensive I'd imagine with Wales and Scotland alone), we'll be getting rid of them all. And I don't know much about fuel efficeny on tractors, but I doubt they're as efficient as Eurolights.

 

[Topgun333]

To reply to the OPs question, hopefully as soon as battery, and hybrid techology advances, or until we electrify everything (Which is quite expensive I'd imagine with Wales and Scotland alone), we'll be getting rid of them all. And I don't know much about fuel efficeny on tractors, but I doubt they're as efficient as Eurolights.

37s have a route availability of 5, 68s have RA7. So there are routes that a 37 can travel on that are not permissible for 68s or other mainline locos. One more reason why they are valued.

 

[The Growl]

37s have a route availability of 5, 68s have RA7. So there are routes that a 37 can travel on that are not permissible for 68s or other mainline locos. One more reason why they are valued.

As tech improves something will have the ability to replace them. Someday, grab em up for preservation while you can!

 

[Master29]

Back to the point of oldest traction surely there are some 08`s out there dating back to the early 1950`s

 

[The Growl]

Back to the point of oldest traction surely there are some 08`s out there dating back to the early 1950`s

Surprising it's not a worldwide thing to have battery shunters like they do in the Netherlands (If I remember correctly). They're cheaper, quieter, and much better.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Surprising it's not a worldwide thing to have battery shunters like they do in the Netherlands (If I remember correctly). They're cheaper, quieter, and much better.

Why? They cost money to build, the batteries are costly and TBH a lot of shunting is done with ordinary locos now. For whatever is left, the 08 is more than capable and is cheap as they already exist.

And don't diss the Tractors. Until we have a replacement lightweight type 3 then they will remain.

 

[The Growl]

Why? They cost money to build, the batteries are costly and TBH a lot of shunting is done with ordinary locos now. For whatever is left, the 08 is more than capable and is cheap as they already exist.

Fuel costs as well, occasional battery maintenance is just a given, like on London's electric buses. I'm sure there is a battery loco out there as powerful as an 08, or at least greener.

And don't diss the Tractors. Until we have a replacement lightweight type 3 then they will remain.

Not that I hate them, just that all that 'clag' isn't great for anyone.

 

[Moodster020]

Put a battery bank in place of an 08 engine. Instant battery shunter. Sorted. Been tried before with 1st gen DMU's> http://www.railcar.co.uk/type/battery-multiple-unit/operations

 

[Bornin1980s]

...except that fatigue could finish an aluminium-alloy vehicle long before the other systems pack up, whereas for things based on steel structures it's the other way round. Summarised here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_limit


(That is 10 to the power 7 cycles, not 107!) So the 37s with their massive steel girder bodysides may be almost indestructible!

Does that mean that aluminium bodied carriages and busses have an absolute life limit, meaning they cannot be refurbished for further use or preserved operational long-term?

 

[dubscottie]

Does that mean that aluminium bodied carriages and busses have an absolute life limit, meaning they cannot be refurbished for further use or preserved operational long-term?

In theory yes for mainline use.

BR withdrew the class 108s pretty sharpish when it was discovered that the bodies were shot after an accident.

I believe the early built 158 units might not have like long left as there have been fatigue cracks found around the doors and on the dragboxes and I often wonder if that is why the are used mainly in the Highlands.