103 'Merlin' Maroon (as delivered) - DCC Sound Freightliner still carrying its WMJEA legend

still carrying its WMJEA legend despite nationalisation of the industry in 1948

Although allocated to East Anglian infrastructure duties it was no stranger to freight or passenger work

the Throckley Coal Company owned a number of pits to the west of Newcastle

Helical Gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running

It had barely settled in north of the border when it received the call to Crewe Works in the October for refurbishment as one of the Welsh-based Class 37/4s

103 'Merlin' Maroon (as delivered) - DCC Sound Freightliner still carrying its WMJEA legendHaving undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin Belfast Enterprise service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were