British Rail Class 89

The British Rail Class 89 is a one-off prototype electric locomotive built in 1986 by the Crewe Works of British Rail Engineering Limited under a contract awarded to Brush Traction in 1983, whose engineers designed it. It has six DC traction motors fed from a common thyristor drive, with an independent field current controller for each motor, and it developed more than 6,000 bhp. Delivered first to Derby Litchurch Lane Works, it was commissioned at Brush in Loughborough, tested on both the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines, and began regular passenger service from King's Cross to Peterborough on 15 July 1988. It was named Avocet in January 1989. Withdrawn in 1992, it was returned to service in 1996, withdrawn again in 2000 and overhauled for main line test runs in 2025.