Another cold start but apologies for all the other locos running in the background but on frost precaution duties. Please do not copy or reproduce ... Please consider subscribing to my channel ru-vid.com...
When I was a fireman out of eastfield traction depot Glasgow 1974 the class 37 class 27 class 20 were never shut down at night during the winter ❄️ as you could not restart them as I used to walk up to the depot at night to go on shift the whole depot was completely covered in thick diesel fumes
The engines on them doesn't like to start when cold. They have no glow plugs, block heater or oil pan heater to help mitigate the issue. And besides, they were built that way, running all the time. This SOP came about from the steam era. Normally, the locomotive must be left with enough coal on the firebox to last the whole night while waiting for a new crew. It also decrease the likelihood of boiler warping as the boiler is hot enough that the temperature delta is not big to cause damage. And steam locomotives take 2 days atleast to properly start it from cold. Daring ones can do it under 4 hrs but you end up with a safety valve popping open as the boiler builds up steam while the boiler shell is cold to the touch.
They still get about , but I rarely drive them these days unless moving them on the shed or loco moves depot to depot . I did have one on the rear of a ballast at foxfield dit the other week tho
Best remedy for a class 37 spluttering into life on a cold morning is to put it to work on a 700 ton freight and it would be sounding perfect in an hour
I've always wondered: what is it that causes the engine to rev up and down all the time when idling after a cold start? Surely it has some mechanical cause as there's probably not much electronics involved?
