37674 joins the Strathspey Railway’s resident fleet
THE PLIGHT of 37674 – which has spent almost 12 months in the yard of Allelys Heavy Haulage in Studley, Warwickshire – was resolved in late November when it moved to a new home on the Strathspey Railway.
The locomotive, owned by enthusiast and locomotive collector Graham Harris, was delivered to Boat of Garten on November 25, 2021.
Due to poor weather conditions following Storm Arwen, the locomotive had to wait a few days for onward movement to Aviemore, arriving there on November 29. It has now been moved into the Strathspey Railway’s workshops, where it will undergo repairs and exams to return it to operational condition.
The Class 37 will be used to supplement the railway’s existing main line diesel locomotives, Class 27 D5394 and Class 31 D5862, and it is intended that 37674 will be repainted in the near future into BR green, regaining its original D6889 identity. Initially based at the Stainmore Railway at Kirkby Stephen East, 37674 moved to the Wensleydale Railway, where it was repainted into Railfreight red stripe livery before entering traffic there.
It left Leeming Bar in December last year and spent a couple of weeks parked on a low-loader in a layby by Skipton before moving to Allelys yard in January.
Mr Harris owns two other Class 37s – operational 37294 based on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway, and 37042, which is stored on the Eden Valley Railway at Warcop, awaiting work on its restoration to begin over the coming months.
He also owns 20169 and 9F steam locomotive, which are currently stored on private land in Tebay.
A detailed feature on the locomotives belonging to Graham Harris, including 37674, can be found on pages 48-53 in this issue of Railways Illustrated.