# researching BR diesel locos



## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike Wells brought his Warship class loco to Andy's yesterday. There was an article about in the G1MRA journal recently and every time I see it in person I get caught up gawking all over again. And then I get to thinking...

In 1981 I lived in Thurso Scotland and attended a DOD residential high school in High Wycombe England, so my first day of school started with an twenty-two hour train trip in a sleeper car instead of a school bus. Way cool time for a train loving teen embarking on a great adventure called junior year. I can remember being fascinated how different their trains were from those US ones I grew up with. Our trip started mid morning at the Thurso station and taking the four hour train to Inverness, where we had a good five hours to "explore" while waiting to board our sleeper to finish the journey. The locomotives used seemed to be class 45 or 46, perhaps both. 

Class 45

Class 46

I am hoping someone out there might have knowledge of the routes and assignments and could give me an educated guess which locomotive pulled my trains. Thurso to Inverness first leg, Inverness to London. Any information or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Not sure what you are asking - do you mean the actual name of the locomotive? A hunded and twenty-five Class 45s were built, of which 48 had names - official and unofficial. 

If you have the dates and times, it might just be possible to identify an actual locomotive by name or number - a friend of mine in the model railway club actually owns one that he has leased for use to a preservation society and has copious records. 

Meanwhile, THIS will cheer you up a bit - it's not a diesel, but a real live steam locomotive built in the 1940's - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUNhKbrayD0

Not a bad performance from a freight loco, eh? 


tac 
www.ovgrs.org


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## thqt07 (Aug 31, 2008)

Kent,

I would have thought that either service might have been hauled by a class 37. Similar in appearance to the 45/46s and they were definitely in widespread use in the north in the 1980s.

Mike.


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

You're right Mike, it was the 37. I even remember the large logo on the side as if it was yesterday, maybe it was a little smaller. This is the locomotive though!! Thanks.


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