"Railtrack North West blocked use of the new units on the Holyhead – Birmingham route in a dispute over gauge clearances... The 37s would have to stay. Good times!"
37412 and 37429 formed a rockin' partnership for the 23:50 Birmingham - Holyhead on Sunday 16th July 2000.
Even at the time, we couldn’t quite believe it was still happening. Multiple daily Class 37-hauled arrivals and departures at Birmingham New Street, and not all of them single-headed! “Spoiled for choice” is a phrase that, outside of preservation, has long since ceased holding any relevance for fans of classic UK rail traction. But the scene at Birmingham really was like that in the late 1990s...
37414 'Cathays C&W Works 1846-1993' assaults the Lickey Incline with Wales & West's 16:10 Cardiff - Birmingham on Sunday 23rd May 1999. Wales & West only ran loco-hauled to Birmingham on a Sunday, but until May '99 it was an additional operator contributing to the realm of 'Tractor' usage in the Central region.
When Wales & West withdrew 'Tractor'-usage on its Cardiff – Birmingham service with the May 1999 timetable change, First North Western remained as the only operator with scheduled Class 37 ops into New Street. And with FNW vowing to wipe out loco-haulage with brand new Class 175s as soon as humanly possible, the future for the English Electric Type 3 at the Central region's primary passenger hub looked very limited indeed.
37401 'Mary Queen of Scots' hammers through Hamstead with First North Western's 10:48 Holyhead - Birmingham, on a spectacularly hot 23rd July 1999.
That changed a little when in late June ’99, a collision at Winsford further deepened FNW’s unit shortage. Far from moving a step closer to eliminating locomotives, the operator was forced to implement a new Class 37 diagram. This illustrated just how finely-balanced the stock situation was. The loss of just one multiple unit which had nothing to do with the Holyhead – Birmingham route, could not be covered without a negative cascade and four new daily Type 3 services involving New Street station.
37/4s in action with First North Western. Left: 37421 at Rolfe Street. Upper right: 37414 alongside the M6 on the approach to Bescot from the Wolverhampton direction. Lower right: 37429 at Dudley Port canal junction.
After the Winsford crash, New Street saw weekday Class 37-hauled departures for Holyhead at 08:07, 10:07, 14:23, 17:34 and 23:30. With incoming and outgoing runs, that amounted to ten services in all. It gave the summer of 1999 a true wealth of haulage opportunity, which would have seemed a bit too good to be true at the New Street of 1980, let alone on the approach to the new millennium.
The 17:34 Birmingham - Holyhead of summer '99 departed New Street via Duddeston and Bescot. Here it is on 28th August in the hands of 37412.
Most of these trains were booked to arrive and depart from New Street without a loco run-round. This would mean services that arrived via Smethwick would depart via Bescot, and vice versa. The only train scheduled to enter via Smethwick and leave via Bescot was the 17:34. The 08:07, 10:07 and 14:23 would arrive via Bescot and depart via Smethwick. The late departure would normally run via Smethwick both ways with a loco run-round. It had a layover of a couple of hours at New Street, so there was plenty of time for shunting – and plenty of room at that time of night.
You could still stand on New Street picking off shots of Type 3 nameplates in 1999. 37418 - East Lancashire Railway.
The locomotives were provided by EWS, and the booked, almost invariable traction was Class 37/4. When no 37/4 was available, no-heat 37s would be the most typical replacement.
Another from the summer of 2000. A mob-handed 37429 and 37426 and the 23:50 Birmingham New Street - Holyhead at its regular Platform 1. For the winter timetable of 1999 to 2000 this train started at Birmingham - International.
Whilst some railway journalists were still predicting the end of Class 37-haulage on First North Western before the end of 1999, the schedule for the incoming Class 175 now seemed to contradict that. The plan was to test Class 175 on the Severn Valley Railway from late July ’99, and then begin testing on the main line about a month later. FNW also expressed a wish to see in the new millennium with Class 175 service.
37415 tops 37429 on the 23:50 Birmingham New Street - Holyhead, Sunday 20th June 1999.
On closer inspection, however, the first 175 was not scheduled to go into traffic until late December, and the full fleet would not be in service until, at best, the end of April 2000. And that was assuming tests went to plan. So the more considered predictions expected the Class 37s to fully end service at the May 2000 timetable change, with a gradual thinning out of workings in the run-up to that moment.
The highly popular 37429 with Saturday 28 August 1999's 14:23 Birmingham - Holyhead.
But as the Y2K timetable change loomed closer, enthusiasts began a new celebration. Just as Coradia manufacturers Alstom were getting on top of the succession of problems which had blighted the 175s since summer ’99, Railtrack North West blocked use of the new units on the Holyhead – Birmingham route in a dispute over gauge clearances. Until Railtrack could amend clearances at key points to safely tolerate the ‘Barbie’-liveried newbies, the 37s would have to stay. Good times!
More from Birmingham in the swansong period. 37418 with 37426 at BNS, 37408 at Duddeston, 37412 with 37429 at BNS, and 37425 with 37429 at BNS.
There was additionally an issue with slow delivery, and an insufficient volume of 175s available to oust all of the loco-hauled sets. Then there were knock-on problems with training drivers on routes the units weren’t allowed to traverse, etc. There were arguments to be had over the acquisition deal too, since under the existing arrangement no 175 could go into traffic at all until they were clear for all routes. Clearly, the Coradias were going to see significant new delays. Vintage traction fans braced themselves for another summer of entertainment, and they weren’t disappointed.
A closer look at the 37425 + 37429 partnership, in an impactive Regional Railways blue scene on 9th July 2000. The terminating service, led by 'Concrete Bob', is the much-celebrated 18:22 Holyhead - Birmingham Sunday night 'boat train'.
The Sunday night 18:22 Holyhead – Birmingham and 23:50 return continued running with locos and stock into the summer of Y2K. This was a really important diagram for enthusiasts, as it had very high passenger volume, hence a double load of stock, and a pair of 37s at its head into and out of Birmingham. The service was a night photographer’s dream at New Street, since it sat at rest for over two hours, and anyone who so wished could grab clear time exposures at their leisure...
But progress cannot be halted forever, and by the end of summer 2000, only three daily Class 37 diagrams remained across First North Western as a whole. The first of these was handed over to Coradias in late September, but the last in fact survived until 30th December 2000. The final diagram was…
05:31 Birmingham – Holyhead
08:53 Holyhead – Wolverhampton
12:26 Wolverhampton – Holyhead
The booked diagram for the 08:53 went into Birmingham, but since the train was very late, it terminated at Wolves on the last day.
37429 Eisteddfod Genedlaethol was an enthusiasts’ favourite, and was specifically requested as the loco for the very last official FNW diagram. Not that there was too much need to request it. It was a veritable slogger which appeared on the services virtually every day and probably would have worked the train even if everything had been left to chance. Known colloquially as “The Beast”, ’429 had kicked off the regime of 'Tractor'-hauled services which were now coming to an end, when they first began in 1993. It worked both the first and the last official runs, over seven and a half years apart.
37429. Started it all. Finished it all. Seen here at Wolverhampton, Dudley Port, and Spon Lane, Smethwick.
As is the case in all good railway stories, the official last train was not the actual last train, and Class 37s continued running with First North Western until 20th January 2001, with a single diagram invoked only on demand. Even after the addendum period, 37429 managed to get itself onto the final diagram, before the loco pool was finally shut down.
Even that was not the end of loco-haulage between Birmingham and Holyhead, and notably, a regular diagram returned in June 2002, scheduled for Class 47/7 power. But the era of 'Tractors' storming out of New Street five times a day was gone for good. Fun while it lasted.
A final memory of 37412 'Driver John Elliott', in service with First North Western at Birmingham New Street.