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British Rail Class 89
The British Rail Class 89 is a prototype electric locomotive. Only one was built, in 1986, by British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works. It was used on test trains on both the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines. The locomotive was fitted with advanced power control systems and developed more than 6,000 bhp (4,500 kW). After being withdrawn in 1992, it was returned to service in 1996, before being again withdrawn in 2000. After overhaul, it completed a series of mainline test runs in October 2025.
The Class 89 locomotive was designed by Brush Traction, Loughborough to meet a specification issued by British Rail. BR subsequently changed the requirements of this specification, but not before Brush had committed to building the prototype locomotive.
The locomotive has six DC traction motors. The main armature current for all the motors is fed from a common thyristor drive, with each motor having an independent field current controller. The field current controllers comprise a two quadrant chopper inside a thyristor bridge. The bipolar transistor based choppers provide a fast fine control of motor torque for electric braking and slip control, while the thyristor bridge is used to invert the field current polarity.
The specification for the locomotive was laid out in mid 1981, which then went out to tender in April 1982. The contract to build the locomotive was awarded to Brush in June 1983, with BREL Crewe as the nominated subcontractor and delivery planned for September 1985.
The locomotive was built at British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works in 1986, emerging and being initially delivered to Derby Litchurch Lane Works on 2 October 1986. The Class 89 was then transferred by road to Brush Traction at Loughborough for static testing and commissioning.
The locomotive was taken to Crewe Electric TMD on 9 February 1987. The following day, it first ran under its own power, inside the depot perimeter. The first lone run on the mainline was on 20 February 1987. On 6 March 1987, the locomotive visited the Railway Technical Centre for weighing and other tests. 89001 was moved to the Old Dalby Test Track for evaluation and pantograph tuning on 13 April 1987. The locomotive was initially allocated to Crewe Electric depot for trials along the West Coast Main Line. Main line running between Crewe, Willesden and Carlisle was performed with the BREL International rake of Mark 3 coaches, along with measurement coaches. Following successful testing, 89001 was transferred to Hornsey on 9 December 1987, having been run for 11,500 mi (18,500 km) by that point. The locomotive was later transferred to Bounds Green, for passenger services on the East Coast Main Line. In May 1988 the locomotive returned to Old Dalby for braking trials. On 22 May 1988, 89001 along with a Class 90, Class 91 and Class 150 left for Hamburg for display at the International Traffic and Transport Exhibition, returning on 17 June 1988.
On 3 July 1988, the locomotive hauled the Mallard 50th anniversary special from London King's Cross, along with the return journey. The locomotive began regular passenger service from London King's Cross to Peterborough on 15 July 1988. As the development of the ECML Electrification continued, the engine was painted into the new style InterCity Swallow livery and named Avocet, in recognition of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 16 January 1989 at King's Cross station. After the ceremony the locomotive hauled a special train conveying the RSPB president Magnus Magnusson, along with other VIPs, to Sandy. Passenger use continued on the ECML until 5 March 1989, a week before the Class 91s entered service on the diagrams.
89001 suffered a serious failure and was withdrawn from traffic in July 1992. At the time of its failure it was still owned by British Rail and Brush had no contractual obligation with regard to it. Additionally, having received no orders from BR in return for their design investment, there was little incentive for Brush to construct spare parts for it. BR had written off the locomotive financially as part of the ECML development; thus it was seen as surplus and of nil value as an asset. As such, the locomotive was sidelined.
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British Rail Class 89 AI simulator
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British Rail Class 89
The British Rail Class 89 is a prototype electric locomotive. Only one was built, in 1986, by British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works. It was used on test trains on both the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines. The locomotive was fitted with advanced power control systems and developed more than 6,000 bhp (4,500 kW). After being withdrawn in 1992, it was returned to service in 1996, before being again withdrawn in 2000. After overhaul, it completed a series of mainline test runs in October 2025.
The Class 89 locomotive was designed by Brush Traction, Loughborough to meet a specification issued by British Rail. BR subsequently changed the requirements of this specification, but not before Brush had committed to building the prototype locomotive.
The locomotive has six DC traction motors. The main armature current for all the motors is fed from a common thyristor drive, with each motor having an independent field current controller. The field current controllers comprise a two quadrant chopper inside a thyristor bridge. The bipolar transistor based choppers provide a fast fine control of motor torque for electric braking and slip control, while the thyristor bridge is used to invert the field current polarity.
The specification for the locomotive was laid out in mid 1981, which then went out to tender in April 1982. The contract to build the locomotive was awarded to Brush in June 1983, with BREL Crewe as the nominated subcontractor and delivery planned for September 1985.
The locomotive was built at British Rail Engineering Limited's Crewe Works in 1986, emerging and being initially delivered to Derby Litchurch Lane Works on 2 October 1986. The Class 89 was then transferred by road to Brush Traction at Loughborough for static testing and commissioning.
The locomotive was taken to Crewe Electric TMD on 9 February 1987. The following day, it first ran under its own power, inside the depot perimeter. The first lone run on the mainline was on 20 February 1987. On 6 March 1987, the locomotive visited the Railway Technical Centre for weighing and other tests. 89001 was moved to the Old Dalby Test Track for evaluation and pantograph tuning on 13 April 1987. The locomotive was initially allocated to Crewe Electric depot for trials along the West Coast Main Line. Main line running between Crewe, Willesden and Carlisle was performed with the BREL International rake of Mark 3 coaches, along with measurement coaches. Following successful testing, 89001 was transferred to Hornsey on 9 December 1987, having been run for 11,500 mi (18,500 km) by that point. The locomotive was later transferred to Bounds Green, for passenger services on the East Coast Main Line. In May 1988 the locomotive returned to Old Dalby for braking trials. On 22 May 1988, 89001 along with a Class 90, Class 91 and Class 150 left for Hamburg for display at the International Traffic and Transport Exhibition, returning on 17 June 1988.
On 3 July 1988, the locomotive hauled the Mallard 50th anniversary special from London King's Cross, along with the return journey. The locomotive began regular passenger service from London King's Cross to Peterborough on 15 July 1988. As the development of the ECML Electrification continued, the engine was painted into the new style InterCity Swallow livery and named Avocet, in recognition of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 16 January 1989 at King's Cross station. After the ceremony the locomotive hauled a special train conveying the RSPB president Magnus Magnusson, along with other VIPs, to Sandy. Passenger use continued on the ECML until 5 March 1989, a week before the Class 91s entered service on the diagrams.
89001 suffered a serious failure and was withdrawn from traffic in July 1992. At the time of its failure it was still owned by British Rail and Brush had no contractual obligation with regard to it. Additionally, having received no orders from BR in return for their design investment, there was little incentive for Brush to construct spare parts for it. BR had written off the locomotive financially as part of the ECML development; thus it was seen as surplus and of nil value as an asset. As such, the locomotive was sidelined.