37215 in BR service

Following entry into service, D6915 settled down to a life working predominantly freight trains around the Swansea and West Wales areas for the next 3 1/2 years. Not long after the decision was made to release the steam generators intended for new build D6948 and its siblings in October 1964, the Western Region CMEE also offered up a number from ‘in service’ locomotives in South Wales, which we think included D6915, losing its steam generator in early 1965 after only 12 months.  In October 1967 it was transferred to Wakefield shed in West Yorkshire, subsequently moving to the replacement newly built Healey Mills diesel depot two months later from where it worked coal and other freight services around Yorkshire and across the Pennines into Lancashire.

4 years later in October 1971, 6915 (it lost the ‘D’ prefix in October 1968) moved on to Tinsley depot near Sheffield before moving a bit further afield to Stratford in East London from September 1973. Just over 8 years were spent working over the Great Eastern lines out of London and into East Anglia including servicing the many freight facilities in the Essex and north Thameside area including forays around the north London line onto Southern and Western Region territory. In January 1982, having been renumbered 37215 in March 1974, a move back to Yorkshire and Tinsley depot followed and for nearly 6 more years, the locomotive was a frequent sight in the Yorkshire area becoming a summer Saturday regular once again on the many extra trains that ran from the Sheffield area to the likes of Blackpool, Scarborough and Skegness.

The allocation of BR’s locomotives to the business sectors resulted in three quick moves between November 1987 and May 1988 from Tinsley to Immingham then Stratford and finally Cardiff Canton, becoming part of the Trainload Petroleum fleet. It was to spend the next 4 years working heavy oil trains out of South Wales to various terminals across the south of England, usually in pairs with other class 37s. Finally stored in August 1992, it was moved to Inverness depot and officially withdrawn on 16th July 1993, before being bought for preservation by the Growler Group and moved to Toddington in June 1994.