Class 37 – 37714

Class 37 No. 37714 – ‘Cardiff Canton’
The Class 37 diesel-electric locomotive, also known as the English Electric Type 3, was a cornerstone of British Rail’s 1955 Modernisation Plan. Built at English Electric’s Vulcan Foundry, the locomotives were delivered between 1960 and 1965 and quickly became a familiar sight across the network. Known affectionately as “tractors” due to their distinctive engine sound, they were widely used on InterCity services in East Anglia and Scotland, as well as on a broad range of secondary,inter-regional and freight duties.

Completed in August 1961 and originally numbered D6724, this locomotive began its career at March Depot as a split headcode machine with central communication doors. It spent its early years on the Eastern Region and was renumbered 37024 in 1974 under the TOPS system. In 1981, it was transferred to Gateshead before returning to March, and by the late 1980s, it had moved to Scotland and then Cardiff Canton.

In 1988, 37024 was selected for refurbishment to become a Class 37/7, one of 44 locomotives modified with additional ballast weight to improve adhesion for heavy freight work. It returned to traffic in 1991 as 37714, based at Thornaby TMD and briefly named Thornaby during the depot’s 1992 open day.

Following further transfers between Scotland and Toton in the 1990s, it became part of EWS’s Special Projects pool in 2000 before being exported to Spain in 2001. It returned to the UK in 2013, acquired by Direct Rail Services and employed as a “Super Shunter” at Daventry until 2015, when it was placed into store.

In 2016, the Heavy Tractor Group was formed to care for the locomotive, and by 2017 they had formally acquired 37714. Since then, it has become a regular and reliable performer on the Great Central Railway, wearing the striking Trainload Freight (Metals) sector livery. This livery, introduced by British Rail in the late 1980s, represented one of the four Trainload Freight sub-sectors (Coal, Construction, Metals, and Petroleum), with each loco bearing its sector logo and branding.

37714 was the first heavyweight-refurbished Class 37/7 in preservation and continues to serve as a working representative of one of British Rail’s most iconic diesel classes. It was joined in 2022 at the GCR by the pioneering D6700, the very first Class 37 built and part of the National Collection—now also under the care of the Heavy Tractor Group.