Last year saw Europhoenix acquire two Class 37/6s from DRS, the company putting Nos. 37608 and 37611 straight into service in plain blue with only minimal rebranding. Although both have now been repainted into the full grey and red livery, this interim appearance offers something a little different to model, as Roland Turner describes.
ANYONE who has spoken to me while doing a demonstration at an exhibition will know I have more than a passing interest in anything related to the Railway Technical Centre at Derby across the decades.
The expansion of my locomotive fleet for test trains is an ongoing process, with a number of DRS locos in the various livery styles already completed. Searching for something else to model, my attention was drawn to the two de-branded Class 37/6s taken on by Europhoenix. While it was inevitable that these two locos would eventually be repainted into the company’s grey livery, they neatly fitted within the period when many of Network Rail’s test train coaches were receiving new bodyside pictorial graphics.
Research for a donor model led me to Bachmann’s No. 37706 Conidae as a suitable candidate for No. 37608 as it already had the correct roof and grille details, along with the added bonus that two of the engine room windows were already filled in.
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The loco was totally dismantled with the ends heading for the spares box and all the bodywork paint being removed in my bath of paint stripper. A quick wash in cream cleaner followed by a rinse with hot water completed the ‘destructive’ phase. Finally, the bodyshell was inspected and any paint residue removed from corners and grilles.
Read more in the May issue of RE – on sale now
