It was also during this time that its reputation preceded it, and its popularity increased with the enthusiasts, thanks to its notoriety for pyrotechnics and exhaust displays.
During its time in Scotland it was based at Eastfield, Motherwell and Inverness TMDs, and with it sported the depot’s plaques and emblems. In the early 1990s it received a new look, being painted into the “Dutch”, or Civil Engineers livery of Grey bodyside with the upper body painted yellow.
Working from Inverness it was often seen on the overnight sleeper service, but these together with other Inverness & Aberdeen trains and a brief spell on the North Wales Coast were to be its last main passenger workings. Not long afterwards it was transferred to Motherwell freight workings and later to Toton, from where it was eventually stored.
After being placed in the “component recovery” pool, and following a brief appearance at the Severn Valley Railway Autumn Diesel gala in 2002, 37175 bade farewell to a mainline career and was stored at Old Oak Common. Finally being made available for sale in May 2006 it was purchased for preservation and was initially based at the Weardale Railway. Although 37175 received a new set of snowploughs here and was started up for the first time in August 2006, no further work was able to be carried out on it until it moved to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in May 2007, in preparation for their Diesel gala, a last-minute replacement for Bo’ness based 37025, still undergoing major restoration. |
