Accurascale ACC2281 Class 89 89001 In Inter-City Executive Livery Oct-86 to Nov-88 - OO Gauge DCC READY
$40.9
$70.35
Description OLIVIA'S ARCHIVE STOCK Accurascale ACC2281 Class 89 89001 In Inter-City Executive Livery Oct-86 to Nov-88 History Designed by Brush Traction and constructed by British Rail Engineering Ltd at Crewe Works in 1986, the unique Class 89 was the prototype for a planned fleet of locomotives that would take over from the HSTs on the electrified ECML and supplement existing motive power on the WCML. Unfortunately, British Rail changed its requirements before the locomotive was even completed, eventually ordering Class 90s and 91s instead. The Class 89 design was later considered for Channel Tunnel use, but was superseded by what eventually became the Brush Class 92. Used as a test bed between 1986 and 1988 on both the East and West Coast routes, it eventually settled into service working between Kings Cross and Leeds. Delivered in the InterCity Executive scheme, it was repainted in the new Swallow livery in December 1988 and named ‘Avocet’ by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher the following month. It continued in this duty until July 1992 when it was side-lined following a failure. It was subsequently purchased for preservation and wore de-named Swallow livery until, in a shock move, it was acquired by privatised ECML operator GNER in 1997 to help with a drastic motive power shortage. Repainted into GNER dark blue, it returned to operation on Kings Cross to Leeds and Bradford trains. Withdrawn for a second time in 2001 it joined the AC Locomotive Group’s preserved fleet at the end of 2006 and repainted back into its original InterCity livery the following year. The Class 89 story does not end there. The ACLG is currently restoring this locomotive back to operational condition with plans to fit it with the necessary equipment for a return to the national network. In December 2021 it announced a partnership with Locomotive Services Ltd to fund the final stages of 89001’s rebuild that will also see the unique machine join LSL’s stunning fleet of main line certified electric locomotives for a period of five years.
