British Rail Class 89

Infobox Locomotive
name = British Rail Class 89
powertype = Electric


caption = Class 89, no. 89001, at Doncaster Works open day on July 27 2003. This locomotive has now been bought by the AC Locomotive Group.
roadnumber = 89001
builder = BREL Crewe Works
builddate = 1989
totalproduction = 1
gauge = RailGauge|sg|abbr=on|al=on
tractionmotors =
electricsystem = 25 kV AC
collectionmethod = Pantograph
whytetype = Co-Co
uicclass = Co'Co'
wheeldiameter =
minimumcurve = convert|80|m|ft|abbr=on
trainbrakes = Air
locobrakes = Air & Rheostatic
locobrakeforce = convert|50|LTf|kN|abbr=on|lk=in (Rheostatic)
wheelbase =
length = convert|19800|mm|ftin|abbr=on
width =
height =
weight = convert|105|t|lk=on
topspeed = convert|125|mph|km/h|abbr=on
poweroutput =
tractiveeffort =
trainheating = Electric Train Heating index: 95
multipleworking =
axleloadclass = Route availability 6
railroad = British Rail, GNER
disposition = Now preserved by the AC Locomotive GroupThe Class 89 is a prototype design for an electric locomotive. Only one unit was built, no. 89001, which was officially named "Avocet" by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on January 16 1989 at Sandy, Bedfordshire - the home of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (whose logo is an avocet). It was built in 1986, by BREL at their Crewe Works, and was used on test-trains on both the West Coast Main Line and East Coast Main Line. It was fitted with advanced power control systems and develops over 6,000 bhp (4,500 kW). It was given the nickname "Aardvark" although the railfans used to call it "The Badger" owing to its sloping front ends.

Design

It was designed by Brush Traction of Loughborough to meet a specification issued by British Rail, which subsequently changed the requirements, but not before Brush had already committed to build the prototype locomotive. It was initially delivered in the old-style InterCity livery, with no British Rail double arrows, but these were added later when British Rail bought the locomotive from Brush. As the development of the ECML Electrification continued the engine was painted into the new style "InterCity Swallow" livery and named "Avocet".

The locomotive uses six DC traction motors. The main armature current for all the motors is fed from a common thyristor drive, whilst each motor has an independent field current controller. The field current controllers comprised a two quadrant chopper inside a thyristor bridge. The bipolar transistor based choppers provides a fast fine control of motor torque for electric braking and slip control, whilst the thyristor bridge is used to invert the field current polarity.

During the early summer of 1988 the International Traffic and Transport Exhibition (IVA88) was held in Hamburg, Germany. British Rail was asked to participate and sent a representative train of rolling stock to the exhibition. On May 22 1988 "Avocet" along with a class 90, class 91 and a two car class 150/2 unit left England in a special train for Hamburg, returning on June 17 1988. See links below for more pictures and information.

After being used as a test bed, the locomotive was used on passenger trains from London King's Cross to Leeds. Its regular 1989 workings were;
Mon-Fri:
1A32 06:40 Grantham-London Kings Cross
1P26 17:36 London Kings Cross-Peterborough
Sat:
1D32 06:50 London Kings Cross-Leeds
1A12 10:00 Leeds-London Kings Cross
1D38 13:20 London Kings Cross-Leeds
1A25 17:00 Leeds-London Kings Cross
Sun:
1D37 11:10 London Kings Cross-Leeds
1A23 16:00 Leeds-London Kings Cross

This continued until Sunday 5th March 1989 which was the last regularly booked service as the Class 91s entered service on the diagrams the following weekend. 91008 making the first run to Leeds on 1D32 on 11th March 1989.

It was hoped that the class 89 design would be used for electric locomotives for the Channel Tunnel, and some investigation was undertaken. It was also hoped the class 89 would be a viable class 86 replacement, which ultimately went to the class 90. All hope and opportunity ended, however, when "89001" suffered a serious failure and was withdrawn from traffic. It was saved for preservation at the Midland Railway Centre by a group of Brush Traction employees. During this time the locomotive appeared at every major British Rail depot open day, in a slowly deteriorating Intercity Swallow livery.

Ultimately only technology and ideas from "89001"’s internal design were used in the Class 9 Eurotunnel locomotives and some similarity in electronics lives on today in the class 92 locomotive design. When "89001" failed, it was still owned by British Rail, and Brush had no contractual obligation with regard to it. Additionally, having no orders from BR for their design investment, there was little incentive for Brush to construct spare parts for it. BR had written off the locomotive as part of the ECML development and thus it was seen as a surplus and nil value asset. As such the locomotive was sidelined.

Brush did eventually win the contracts to build Channel Tunnel locomotives, and the similarities between these and "89001" enabled suitable spares to be constructed.

GNER

In 1996, the InterCity East Coast franchise was won by the Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). Suffering from a motive power shortage, it purchased "89001" and repaired it for use on London to Leeds and Bradford passenger trains, investing £100000 in an overhaul. It was also re-painted in the GNER blue and red livery. However, in 2001, the locomotive again suffered a major failure and was withdrawn from traffic. Its future was again in doubt, and it was laid up for a period at Doncaster Works.

In December 2004, the locomotive was moved into the care of [http://www.aclocogroup.co.uk/ The AC Locomotive Group] at Barrow Hill Engine Shed for secure storage. With the overhaul of the Class 91 fleet complete, plus the availability of "White Rose" Class 373 trains for lease, "89001" was seen as a one-off asset with little economic value.

The AC Loco Group undertook some remedial repairs to allow the loco to be hauled on the main line, but it was unable to work trains. After visiting the Crewe Great Gathering in September 2005, it then went to Norwich for the Association of Community Rail Partnerships festival. This was the last public outing of the locomotive to date.

Future

It is unlikely that "89001" will make a third comeback on scheduled mainline services. Newer Class 92 heavy freight locomotives have been available and unused since 1997. Eurostar sets also remain unused. With 86s retired and the entire fleet of 87s unused, the age of loco-hauled electric passenger locomotive trains appears to have nearly ended. However, National Express East Coast continues to use the Class 91 trainsets. Also, National Express East Anglia use class 90 trainsets, although a similar plan for National Express East Coast has been dropped in favour of acquiring Alstom Class 180 "Adelante" DMU's. Other operators though, are keen to get these units too and if National express East Coast is unsuccessful in getting Class 180's ,the Class 90 trainsets may have to be resurrected. Hull Trains also use a Class 86 for their London- Hull services whilst a damaged 222 is being repaired.

The locomotive was a well-designed engine, delivered to meet the needs of a 1980s electrified railway. It was delivered too late, and by the time of delivery designs had moved on. Its future opportunities were suppressed by the privatisation of the railways. It was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, a similar predicament to 71000 Duke of Gloucester in the 1950s. It also pushed the technology boat ahead at the same time as the industry made a shift. It could be argued that "89001" was a failure, but without its construction Brush may not have been able to convince the Channel Tunnel team of the feasibility of its ideas for their locomotives, and the contracts may have been given to Siemens instead. In that sense, in its role of a demonstrator it was a success.

In October 2006, the GNER put "89001" up for sale with a six-week deadline for bids. The AC Locomotive Group launched an appeal and fundraising effort to save the locomotive which was ultimately successful, purchasing the locomotive in December 2006. Plans for future restoration and use, along with further fundraising, are expected to be announced soon.

Currently the AC Locomotive Group have repainted Class 89 in its former InterCity Executive livery which can be viewed on the AC Locomotive Group's Website.

Principal data

*Weight: 105 tonnes
*Minimum radius curve negotiable: 80 metres
*Max. speed: 200 km/h (125 mph)
*Route availability: RA 6
*Brake force: 50
*ETH Index: 95
*Length over buffers: 19,800 mm (65 ft)The class 89 loco when it first arrived at Bounds Green (Inter City) had a set of hand controls which could be plugged into an external plug and the loco moved by an operator from the ground position.

Other uses of Class 89

The Class 89 series has also been used for preserved diesel and electric locomotives (excluding shunters) registered to run on the mainline. The numbers are allocated in the following way:

* Third digit: 1-5 representing Types 1-5 (see here for details). Electric locomotives have also been allocated numbers in the 89xxx series, in the appropriate series for their power rating.
* Fourth and fifth digits: The last two digits of the locomotive's original number. If this results in a duplication of an existing number, then the number was increased by 1.

So, as an example, the Type 4 locomotive number D1062 was allocated 89462.

"Current List as of June 6 2006"
* 89100 20050 NRM York
* 89101 20001 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89110 20110 South Devon Rail
* 89127 20227 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89166 20166 Bodmin & Wenford Railway
* 89188 20188 Swanage Railway
* 89200 31018 NRM York
* 89204 26004 Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
* 89210 27056/27112 Severn Valley Railway
* 89212 L12 London Underground
* 89223 25173 West Somerset Railway
* 89233 25283/25904 Dean Forest Railway
* 89247 27001 Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
* 89254 24054 East Lans Rail Bury
* 89259 25309/25909 Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
* 89261 24061 North Yorks Moors Rail
* 89262 25262/25901 South Devon Railway
* 89280 31154 North Norfolk Railway
* 89317 D7017 West Somerset Railway
* 89376 D7076 East Lans Rail Bury
* 89400 E27000 Midland Railway Butterley
* 89401 47401 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89402 50002 South Devon Railway
* 89404 44004 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89405 47105 Great Central Railway
* 89407 50007 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89408 50008 Crewe LNWR
* 89412 40012 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89413 D1013 Severn Valley Railway
* 89415 50015 ELR Bury
* 89416 D1015 Kidderminster
* 89417 50017 Tyseley
* 89420 45108 LNWR Crewe
* 89421 D821 Severn Valley Railway
* 89421 50021 Tyseley
* 89423 45125 D123 Great Central Railway
* 89424 D1023 NRM York
* 89427 50027 NYMR
* 89431 50031 Severn Valley Railway
* 89432 D832 East Lancs Rail Bury
* 89435 40135 ELR Bury
* 89440 45133 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89441 D1041 ELR Bury
* 89442 47192 Churnet Valley Railway
* 89443 50042 Bodmin & Wenford Railway
* 89444 50044 Severn Valley Railway
* 89445 40145 MAIN LINE VEHICLE ( Since reverted to 40145 )
* 89449 50049 Severn Valley Railway
* 89453 45041 Midland Rail Centre Butterley
* 89460 45060 Barrow Hill
* 89462 D1062 Severn Valley Railway
* 89466 47449 Llangollen Railway
* 89472 46035 LNWR Crewe
* 89500 55022 Barrow Hill
* 89509 55009 Barrow Hill
* 89515 55015 Barrow Hill
* 89516 55016 Tyseley
* 89519 55019 Barrow Hill
* 89520 55002 NRM York
* 89523 DELTIC NRM Shildon

External links

* [http://www.aclocogroup.co.uk/ AC Locomotive Group - Owners of 89001]
*Information and pictures of the locomotive in UK and Germany
** [http://www.old-dalby.com/IVA88.htm Trials at Old Dalby of a special train for Hamburg IVA88 exhibition]
** [http://www.traintesting.com/IVA_88.htm More photos of the trip to Germany and back]
** [http://www.old-dalby.com/Class89.htm The class 89 on trial at the Old Dalby test track]
** [http://www.traintesting.com/Class_89.htm The class 89 on test]