Doing some 're-researching' of class 31 information (i've forgotten most of what I learnt ages ago!), I was going through the allocation history of the pilot batch of 20 locos, D5500-19.
I had a vague memory of a 31 on trial in Scotland, and there it was, D5511. The first of its' type to visit the country, when virtually brand new. Delivered to Stratford in June 1958, it almost immediately went on holiday to Scotland , going on loan to Inverness (June 58) Eastfield (July) Edinburgh St Margarets (July) and back to Inverness (July), where it stayed for two months until it returned home to Stratford in September 58.
So you could legitimately have a brand new Brush Type 2 running on your scottish layout, I suppose.
Photos of the loco whilst sampling the scottish delights would appear to be quite rare.
I think I read somewhere that the ScR wouldnt allow diesels with three or four axles per bogie on many lines because of track and or tyre wear. I expect this might have been through experiences gained with the trial of D5511 possibly. In any event it didnt stop the Scottish region running quite a lot of Class 37's in later years, and to virtually every corner of the region.
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