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Home >
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Vehicle Directory >
Electric locos >
Class 87

Class 87 Profile and Models

Dave Martin
Class 87

87001 'Stephenson' at Stafford in August 2003. ©Steve Jones

The British Rail Class 87 is a type of electric locomotive designed and built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) to work passenger services over the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The type was developed in response to the need to add extra capacity to the electric traction fleet operated by British Rail, in addition to the desire to introduce a higher performance electric locomotive than the existing Class 86, numerous aspects of which being incorporated into its design. The Class 87 fleet was operated as the flagships of British Rail's electric locomotive fleet until the late 1980s, at which point the Class 90, an improved derivative of the Class 87, started to come on stream. It was further superseded by the arrival of the higher performance Intercity 225 only a few years after that, but the fleet remained in widespread use through the 1990s. As a consequence of the privatisation, all but one of the Class 87s were transferred to Virgin Trains. Under this operator, the type continued their passenger duties until the advent of the new Class 390 Pendolinos, after which they were gradually transferred to other operators or withdrawn between 2002 and 2007. The class saw use on a variety of freight services and one example is still in use on charter services to this day. A large proportion of the fleet have been exported to Bulgaria, where they have entered regular use once again.

(Information provided via Wikipedia)

Type of Locomotive

Electric - 25kV AC Overhead

Builders

BREL Crewe Works

Build Dates

1973 to 1975

Total Built

36

Tractive Effort

58,000 lbf

Power Output

87/0: 5,000 hp
87/1: 4,850 hp

Top Speed

110 mph

Wheel Configuration

Bo-Bo

Operated By

British Rail
Bulgarian Railway Company
Bulmarket
Caledonian Sleeper
Cotswold Rail
Direct Rail Services
EWS
First/ GB Railfreight
Locomotive Services Ltd
Virgin Trains West Coast

Main Duties

Express Passenger

In Service Until

Present

Surviving Examples

24

 

OO Gauge (1:76 Scale)
trainModels Produced
bookmark_border
1979 Lima release
Lima OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) Class 87

DCC compatible but no socket. Pancake motor
View 14 products
update 2009 Hornby upgrade bookmark_border

Lima OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) Class 87

DCC Ready. 8-pin socket
View 4 Products
bookmark_border
2018 Hornby release
Hornby OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) Class 87

DCC Ready. 8-pin socket
View 7 products
compare_arrowsCompare these models
format_paintLiveries Produced
LNWR - London and North Western Railway livery sample LNWR - London and North Western Railway
(1846 - 1922)
BR grey livery sample BR grey
(1948 - 1990)
BR blue livery sample BR blue
(1965 - 1990)
BR large logo blue livery sample BR large logo blue
(1978 - 1994)
Intercity livery sample Intercity
(1982 - 1994)
Railfreight Distribution (RFD) livery sample Railfreight Distribution (RFD)
(1992 - 1997)
Virgin West Coast livery sample Virgin West Coast
(1997 - 2019)
Caledonian Sleeper livery sample Caledonian Sleeper
(2015 - present)
View All Products Produced
N Gauge
trainModels Produced
bookmark_border
1998 Graham Farish release
Graham Farish N Gauge Class 87

DCC incompatible
View 4 products
format_paintLiveries Produced
BR blue livery sample BR blue
(1965 - 1990)
Intercity livery sample Intercity
(1982 - 1994)
Virgin West Coast livery sample Virgin West Coast
(1997 - 2019)
View All Products Produced

Products awaiting categorisation

Scale Brand Image Construction Type DCC Capability Product Code Product Title Livery
OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) Lima L205125a Class 87 87005 'City of London' in InterCity Executive livery RTR/RTUse/Pre-assembled Not set L205125a
View
Class 87 87005 'City of London' in InterCity Executive livery Intercity

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