Class 37 thrash - ex-British Rail Type 3s at work in France, June 2000 

I think they had a work permit 😊, our progressive French neighbours wouldn't have had many spare diesels as the vast majority of their network is electrified...But the 37s always flat out , gave a good account of themselves and still do in 2023, the ones that are left in the UK 🇬🇧 .😊

You deffo voted for Brexit

@@user-fn4lt6mn6c 🤣🤣🤣

Cheers Robert! Glad you enjoyed it.

No problem - and thanks for your feedback (I'll take any language!).

Many thanks!

Many thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it! Spread the word! :-)

Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks Tom - very interesting and good-to-know response. Cheers.

Many thanks!

They tamed the gradients in the valleys

That might be one of Locomaster Profiles DVDs - Class 37s Past and Present rings a bell?

Yes, couldn't agree more! Weird watching them in France tho....

@@linesidevideoprod I’ve noticed some other Vids just like yours called tractor thrashing in France. There are a few other videos were three tractors actually didn’t make it up the hill and had to back it down but they got wiped off u tube for some reason I am unable to find them unfortunately since. Let me know if you ever find them

I think the backing down shots were part of a Locomaster Profiles Production.

Thanks mate I’ll have a look

@@linesidevideoprod this part of the video is on a class 37 dvd or a thrash dvd, it was at the end, i will have a look for this tomorrow, one or both of these dvd's may still be available.

They are also called slugs

@@cidertom5140 shut up muppet no one asked you to comment

@@cidertom5140 there called growlers and tractors 💯👌😄 don’t tell me about locos I know my stuff pal jog on butty 🥪

@@cidertom5140 I know there slugs anyways but there mostly known . As tractors and growlers 💯👌

they are actually NS (Dutch Railways) Classes 2400/2500

Love it! :-)

@@linesidevideoprod thanks for the kind comment ,it is appreciated and true, cannot beat a Tractor for out and out slogging. Have you seen the video posted on U-Tube of a Tractor dragging a rake of dead Bosch or Miele washing machines one calls a Stadler multiple unit train, er no get a SpecSavers Eye Test, it is not a train but a f-----ng launderette on wheels, all you need is Dot Cotton as the driver.

Perfectly summed up!

Arguably some of the best traction the French have ever witnessed on their home soil.... :-)

Rock on!

You got that right!

That did concern me that the trains seemed to be very close together on the same track.

All driver control - crew was in rear units unless locos were dead-in-tow.

It depends where in Europe you are In France and Belgium they use left hand running the same as in UK. In Netherlands they use right hand running. It does not really matter with Eurostar TGV ICE and Thalys which all use these tracks because they have a central driving position.

@@cedarcam Thank you for the info 👍

Right hand drive instead of left

My kid was 4 weeks old now she is 22 years old

No - too many restrictions I'm afraid.

Well spotted Stephen - should have read 803.

Hi john. The empty trains, as you mainly see here, are seemingly overpowered, but the gradients here are vicious. The main reason for all of the power was to shift the loaded trains out to the work sites in the morning and with around 2000 tonnes per train the locos were worked to their maximum up the steep hills. All great fun and spectacle at the time.

Yes they did.

To the knackers yard!

No wonder the front engine is struggling, it’s towing a heavy weight engine on the end😮

Good morning my someone.

No. Ryton Willows, Tyne valley line, double headed. Summer evenings, 1990s

because they are the best

@@treacleeater54321 well that's certainly a point of view, however deluded !

@@steveluckhurst2350 An opinion doesn't require an insult. Probably because they were deemed scrap and surplus to requirements, if they broke, they'd just use another unit. While the UK was taking on 66 EMD's, I can't see us lending any of them to the French to break. Plus I'm sure the eurotunnel would've needed a good soot lining first! Judging by the condition of the French fleet, they needed the power!

@@monkehbitch Apologies if that came across as an insult. Surely nobody actually believes that the 37s are "the best"? They make a nice noise and that's about it! 😊

@@steveluckhurst2350 no problem, I think because they're way past their service life and are probably treated as "slags" of the railways, but still chuck out reliable good power figures and if a frenchman can drive it, shows how simple it is to use! If they break? Take it back to the UK and they can get another. I'm sure a preservation society would love to fix one of these. They sound great, I agree. Nothing beats the sound, apart from a deltic, but can you imagine if they threw a few deltics on there instead... There'd be flat caps, notebooks and cameras being thrown everywhere in outrage!

Mainly because of the horrendously steep gradients they have on this line.

Not so sure as class 56s and 58s were used on the LGV-est construction. It might have helped, but it was needing a large fleet of locos that probably influenced the decision.

@@linesidevideoprod Oh i see, yeah i guess they were probably just after spare diesels which the UK had in abundance.

Loads of locos parked in Rouen sidings been there a long time

Do you mean the one on the front or the back?

No there's a French van or something starts up