Description
Fifty Class 90/0 locomotives were built in the late 1980s, numbered 90001-050. They were developed from the Class 87, with many improvements and new features. The Class 90s were primarily built to replace the ageing Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85 dating from the early 1960s, which were prone to fire damage.
The class is fitted with rheostatic brakes in addition to standard Westinghouse air brake equipment. A Time-Division Multiplexer (TDM) is fitted to enable two or more locomotives to work in multiple. It also allows a Class 90 to work a push-pull passenger train with a Driving Van Trailer (DVT), DBSO or Propelling Control Vehicle.
A Class 90 with a rake of eight British Rail Mark 3 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT) will reach 60 mph (97 km/h) in just over 1 mile (1.6 km), and 100 mph (161 km/h) in another 11⁄2 miles (2.4 km).
In the early 1990s, with the sectorisation of British Rail, 26 locomotives were dedicated for freight traffic; they were reclassified Class 90/1 and renumbered 90125-150 by the addition of 100 to the original number. The modifications included lowering the maximum speed to 75 mph (121 km/h) and isolating the electric train supply. Many of these locomotives were repainted in the new Railfreight Distribution two-tone grey livery, which was replaced by a revised version in 1994. Three locomotives, 90128, 90129 and 90130, received special "continental" liveries (NMBS/SNCB blue, DB red, SNCF grey respectively) to celebrate the Freightconnection event in 1992.
Around the same time, five locomotives, 90016-020, were repainted into the new Rail Express Systems livery and dedicated to postal trains. They were primarily used on London-Glasgow, London-Newcastle and Birmingham-Glasgow services.
Of the remaining locomotives, the first 15, 90001-015, were operated by the InterCity sector on express passenger services. 90021-024 were operated by Railfreight Distribution, but remained as standard Class 90/0 locomotives to enable them to rescue passenger trains.
Despite being built to be less susceptible to fire damage than Classes 81-85, 90050 caught fire at the end of September 2004, prompting its storage and subsequent stripping for spares. It is not expected to work again.
Many Class 90 locomotives have received names. The passenger locomotives were named after cities, newspapers or famous institutions. Many of the freight locomotives have been given names with a commercial link. The Class 90 was the first new locomotive to carry InterCity Swallow livery.
Read more about this topic: British Rail Class 90
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