My experience with these locomotives was as a freight train guard, working mainly Freightliner and Air Braked Network (later called "Speedlink") trains between Carlisle and Glasgow Gushetfaulds Freightliner Depot and Mossend. As these trains didn't have brake vans, I was always riding on the locomotive. I worked these trains from about 1973 to 1980, and worked with classes 81 to 86, and occasionally an 87. I'm a bit surprised that you single out the class 84 for bad riding. I don't think any of the first generation of AC electrics was very good in this respect, but based on the comparatively few occasions I rode on an 84, I actually thought they were better than the average. It seems to me that the 84's weakness was reliability. Of the first three 84s that I saw, two were being hauled dead with their pantographs down. It didn't exactly inspire confidence. As I recall the worst riding were the 81s. It had been a design specification for the AC electrics that traditional railway leaf springs were unsuitable for 100 mph running. So all these locomotives had coil springs. By the time they built the 86s and the 87s they had worked out how to do it, but the 81s were dreadful, bouncing up and down on their coil springs and occasionally shuddering violently from side to side. I especially recall bouncing down Bellshill Bank on one from Bellshill to Uddingston on jointed track (i.e. not continuous welded rail). For some reason I was travelling passenger and I was joking with the train crew about the amazing quality of the ride. You might as well laugh, or you'd cry. It seemed almost incredible that the powers tat be deemed these engines were suitable for 100 mph running. One Carlisle driver used to take his tea in an unspillable baby cup. My own teacan, made out of an old bean tin, and very good for making tea rapidly in a brake van fire, would be almost empty by the time the train had gone five miles. However I never heard of one becoming derailed at speed, so maybe these locos were better than they felt. As one driver early in the 20th century said about the North British Railway Atlantic, a notoriously bad riding steam locomotive in its day, "You can't coup them -- I've tried it!" ("Coup" or "cowp" is a Scottish word for overturn.) Despite my complaints, and jokes about London Midland Region guards being issued with calendars rather than watches -- late running south of Carlisle was so prevalent -- I generally enjoyed my time then, and look back on those locomotives with nostalgia. I can hardly believe that they've all gone, they were so synonymous with the modern railway at its best. I occasionally witnessed bits of locomotive performance that would have been unbelievable a few years earlier. I recall coming over Beattock Summit at 60 mph with a double-headed Freightliner train of over a thousand tons behind us, from a dead stand at The Greskine (half way up the hill). The two locomotives (I think they were both 85s) just continued to accelerate the train against the gradient right up to the summit. If the gradient had continued a few miles more, I think they'd have got it up to 75. (In comparison, in a famous trial run in the 1930s, with a trailing load under 300 tons, 6201 Princess Elizabeth was doing 59 at the summit -- with a run at the hill! I've similarly watched the speed fall all the way climbing Beattock with a class 47 diesel and a fairly light load. One feature of the AC locomotives was that all of them from the 81s to the 87s had virtually identical driving controls and instruments. This was quite unlike the Modernisation Plan diesels, where every builder had their own ideas how to do things. There were 4 ammeters -- one for each traction motor, a notch indicator, and a line light, which was lit all the time that the pantograph was in contact with the live overhead line. The main Controller handle was quite unlike anything on a diesel, where you just opened it wider to go faster. If I remember rightly it had the following positions, in order as you opened it: Off, Run Down, Notch Down, Hold, Notch Up, and Run Up. For initial acceleration the driver would Notch Up one notch at a time. When he had got up a little speed, he would move the controller to Run Up to accelerate more rapidly. When he had reached the desired speed, he would move the controller to Hold. Myself I'd say there's a bit more to driving an electric than a diesel. When the southern part of the West Coast Main Line was electrified, it was thought that with over 3,000 horse power available, one locomotive would be enough to haul any train. As a result the original AC electrics were not equipped for multiple working. However, when the electrification was extended over Shap and Beattock, double heading was found to be necessary to provide the adhesion to restart a heavy train on a steep rising gradient. With no multiple working possible, that meant doing it the old fashioned way, with a driver on each locomotive. One of our regular workings was 4S52, an overnight Freightliner train of over 1,000 tons trailing load from Willesden to Gushetfaulds. North of Preston, this was always worked by two locomotives, with a driver on each. (That was the train I mentioned earlier that accelerated up Beattock from The Greskine to the Summit.) On that train I witnessed some remarkably good driving. As guard, I was supposed to sit in the back cab, but more often than not I sat in the front cab with the driver of the second locomotive. Now I found the route from Glasgow to Carlisle hard to learn, as, with all the stations and signal boxes closed, it lacked the easy to spot landmarks that you see on a traditional railway. Now the northbound climb up Beattock starts at Wamphray with the line climbing at about 1 in 200 to Beattock (where there are loops and sidings, and there used to be a station). From Beattock the gradient steepens to 1 in 75, which then continues for 10 miles right to Beattock Summit. On the 1 in 200 stretch between Wamphray and Beattock there was (possibly still is) a neutral section in the overhead line at the Murthat. Drivers were supposed not to take power when passing through a neutral section, so less confident drivers wouldn't start to assist until the train passed Beattock, which had lots of lights and was easy to recognise in the dark. However many of the Polmadie drivers (no doubt Motherwell and Carlisle drivers too), who had fired over the road in steam days, and knew the line well, would start to assist from the start of the climb at Wamphray. Now I honestly hadn't a clue where we were. I might have recognised the old station house at Wamphray, but beyond there it was pitch dark, our view ahead was blocked by the leading locomotive, and what little night vision I had was being destroyed by arcing from its pantograph. But somewhere between Wamphray and Beattock the driver would move the controller to the "Run Down" position. Then I would watch the four ammeters move down together. When they reached the bottom, the driver would put the controller to the "Off" position, and immediately the Line Light would go out and come on again. We were at the Murthat neutral section. The driver knew exactly where the train was, even though it was totally dark and I could see nothing. I once asked a driver how he did this, and he said there was a bridge over a little stream, and he used this as a marker for stopping taking power for the neutral section. I looked but I never saw the stream. Maybe it was easier to see from the driver's side of the cab. I think though it was just the sort of intimate route knowledge that you got from spending years firing steam locomotives over the road. Sadly not all the drivers were as good. I remember one who somehow missed Beattock Summit (which was easy to recognise as there were loops on both sides of the line) and continued taking power on the falling gradient towards Elvanfoot. The speedometer rose rapidly to 100 mph, and then to 120! Freightliner wagons were supposed to be limited to 75 mph. I opened the cabside window, and saw with relief that the train was still following us! I don't think we were really doing 120 mph. The speedometer seemed to "jump" when it got past 100. Maybe that was intentional to make us worried, but the speed was certainly well above 100 and far faster than we should have been going. I'm surprised the driver of the leading engine didn't apply the brakes. Sorry this comment has been so long, but seeing this video has brought back a lot of memories of the days when these locomotives were an essential part of my life. I was in my twenties then. I had my 70th birthday last week.

The legacy of AEI 3 still lives in Poland, where a modified version, known as AEI E was used as EU06 and made under a license as PaFaWag 4E series EU07. Then we built several more locomotives on it: EP08 - a 140kph express locomotive, ET22 - a six-axle freight locomotive, ET41 - articulated, eight-axle freight locomotive, EU07 ≤300 - ET41 cut in half. All of these except the EU06 are still a common sight, saw one of the later "sevens" on my way to model making class today.

Fond memories of watching these leaving Glasgow Central in the 70s going to exotic places such as London! I used to love watching them run-around on the platform. I can still hear their unique sound.

I would love to see something similar on the DC loco's which ran on the Woodhead Line. I know several class 77's came to my country as the 1500 series for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

Had a tour of Glasgow Central with my Boys Brigade group in the early nineties. The station staff who showed us around were very keen on the electrification and excited by the Class 90s. It was like they were introducing us to their heroes.

From the penal colony of Aussieland, thanks for a great tube!! I worked on the 46 class Metro-Vickers engines, missing out on their final runs in the 1990's!!

Really enjoy your style of documentary. I listen to these all the time. I’ve never been to the UK, but the advancement of British railways through the years, especially through their traction is very interesting.

A great video, I went to Barrow Hill a few weeks ago and saw the preserved locomotives, so it's great to have some information about them

The Class 86. One of the few things BR got VERY right.

The "electric blue" with maroon coaches was a good look.

Many years ago, I worked at AEI Rugby and we supplied some of the switches and indicator lamps for British Rail. When an order was ready for dispatch, a BR inspection person would visit. The items would all be lined up on a bench, the BR person could randomly choose an item to inspect. On a separate issue, we would often send stuff by Red Star ⭐ and I would often make the short trip to Rugby station to send Urgent items for Steel works etc.

Another gem to wake up to! Thanks Ruairidh

Great work as always, hours of quality research coming together as an informative, easy to digest masterpiece

Great video! Brings back memories of travelling to Glasgow in the early 70's and being fascinated by the loco change as a 6 year old, I think it was at Crewe, as it wasn't electric all the way then. It was what later "sparked" my interest in electrical engineering and I served my apprenticeship on the railways.

86s and 87s live a second life in Bulgaria on freight duty and are even being overhauled. The only major modifications to their look is the addition of a snowplough/cowcatcher and rear-view mirrors.

wow.. you pack a lot of good info into just 14 minutes... helped cleared up my rusty memories of the 81/2/3/4 being introduced and how the later versions that I rode upon so many years ago evolved. Never realised the ECML electrification delay was due to KGX roof remodelling costs. I remember the wires being put into Grantham station and the excitement of the first 225(91) arriving.

Excellent production! Thank you. You were very kind to the 84s. As a fledgling enthusiast growing up in Birmingham I managed to see examples of each first-gen electric loco in revenue-earning service except the 84; the only example of that class I ever saw was during a visit/tour of Crewe Works in 1982 and had already been withdrawn - it was topping a line of withdrawn 83s awaiting scrapping. I know one 84 was retained, repainted in Derby Ice Cream Van colours and used as a load bank at (I think) Willesden maintenance depot - I guess that it’s the one now at Barrow Hill. “The New Age of Silent Traction” except when the blowers were required to cool the traction equipment - which was all day every day 😁 These days I miss them; back then I reviled them for being where a diesel loco should have been. Nostalgia is an ever-evolving state of mind.

Afair, there was a photo in a 1971 edition of the Railway Magazine of the remains of E3019. This had caught fire so badly that the only things surviving above the mainframe were the cab ends. It turned out that while at high speed and current draw, the driver had managed to put it in reverse! Must have been spectacular.

Excellent presentation and thoroughly enjoyable. Great too to see two of my favorites : the Brush Type 2, Class 30/31 and the Metro-Cammell Class 251/261 Blue Pullman Class set.

First time this subject has been so clearly explained, thank you!

The 81s-85s are among the most evocative-sounding electric locos ever built; they weren't called 'Roarers' for nothing! Interesting to note that the AL4s/84s had notably poor riding qualities while the Class 21 Type 2 diesels (also constructed by North British; 20 were later rebuilt as Class 29s) were noted for their superb ride quality in spite of all the other problems they themselves faced. Yes I know, different bogie designs and all that, but just something I thought was interesting. Cheers for this one, Ruairidh. :)

Great video! Stayed up just long enough to see this video on my favorite British electrics! Cheers from Western Washington!

Thanks R. It's nice to see it all again. Happy days 😊

Great video and very informative, used to love seeing these with my late father in the 80's at Crewe and Birmingham. Thanks for posting

Excellent informative video. I loved traveling on these locos.

Really enjoyed this documentary. Thanks for posting!

AL3 got a DC twin, which I think had more successful career. PKP class EU06 was made by Vulcan using some of the AL3 ideas. Series was 5 units longer and lasted in service until ~2012. Now some are in use as heritage trains. Polish companies Pafawag and HCP made a lot of designs based on AL3/EU06, PKP class EU07 (which is in fact two design similiar mostly in apperance, PKP class ET22, which is six axle EU07 (exported to eg. Morocco), PKP class EP08 which is experimental a bit faster passenger locomotive and PKP class ET41 which is two section 8 axle EU07. So AL3 is still alive in DC ;)

hi there, great video, i remember seeing a lot a lot of the class 85s parked up at stonebridge park sidings around 1987 and i think they were used to pick up the night sleeper from euston to the carriage sidings at stonebridge for cleaning.,the class 86s looked great in the Anglia Railways colours,many memories of watching of them growling away at liverpool st station. lets hope some of the freightliner 86s which are parked up get saved even for static display

An interesting and well-produced video. Thank you for the upload.

I also recall that the development of the DVT was prototyped by using a running class 43 with a class 87. These videos are superb. Worthy of showing at the NRM.

I had a cab ride in a 84 in the late 80's it was at Stratford and used for ECS movements. It was restricted to 40mph but was still like a pogo stick.

I was in all the stations you mentioned, beautiful places. Thanks.

Liked before viewing. As always, a superb video! 👏👍🙂

The 85s were true survivors they worked speedlink trains right up until withdrawn . Some were kept on as coach stock shunters at various yards. I remember doing over night spotting at Carlisle back in the day and seeing 85s come through at two in the morning on freight trains. They were all still in the old corporate br blue livery. I always loved that roaring howling sound they made.

I really enjoy a lot of your documentaries. I'd be interested in seeing one on the history of various second generation electrics, particularly ones not often heard about, like the Class 71s.

Excellent presentation...thank you...

Class 83 was a precursor of Polish made classes EU-06, EU-07, EP-07 locomotives (upgraded, and adjusted to metric standards), which are still in use as a cheap and reliable, also produced in great numbers.

Excellent and informative work.

Well done for all the research it takes to do a video like this. A real education.

Very interesting. ... I love these videos, very professional and excellent footage. It just makes you see what a huge modernisation plan it was. From steam to both diesel and electric. Huge changes, and huge costs for Britain ..especially so soon after the war.

Excellent stuff. Thank you.

I remember these new locos thundering up and down the recently opened West coast electrified line north of Preston in the Spring of 1974. We are still awaiting the electrification of the of the Wales and West and Midland Lines nearly 50 years later. Bring back the Intercity brand , as the privatised TOCs collapse and hand back the keys

An excellent story very rapidly yet succinctly delivered.

Very enjoyable. Worth mentioning that the 81s easily outlived classes 82-84 on passenger, my last recorded run being in 1987. The Class 85 lasted into the 90s. A farewell railtour took place on the 30th June 1991 taking 85101 to London Liverpool Street, Shoeburyness and Walton on the Naze!

Good work RMV - I hadn't been aware there was so much Soviet-style testing-to-destruction in our railway history. Goes to show that extensive (and pricey) field trials really do deliver results!

Great vlog as always!

These early electric speeds had an effect on the cast iron brake blocks of the BR Mk1 carriages. The fine dust and sometimes the entire block, flying off, would damage cars parked at stations on the LNW, such as King's Langley and Berkhamsted. I remember seeing from Watford Jct. the paraffin tail lamps desperately trying to retain their wild flames in the vacuum and winds behind the brake coach.

Cracking video. Nice work!

Nice work making this video. Enough detail to be meaningful, not enough to confuse. Contemporary footage helps, too.

I was always enthralled as a 15 year old whenever I'd catch a train at Euston to Northampton in the mid 70's seeing all these class 86's docked on the platforms. They always looked a powerhouse of speed. I'd watch them on occasion at a crossing in Northampton when the trains were diverted onto the local line when works were being carried out on the main line. Sadly it didn't happen too often! A very interesting documentary I have to say.

Fantastic documentary films / videos.

These videos are such a pleasure to watch

I remember travelling to and fro many times to Huddersfield via the WCML from Wolverhampton and Birmingham in the early and mid 70s. I was always impressed by the reliability and speed of the then class 86s with their unforgettable sound of the traction motor cooling fans.

Brilliant. Just love the Health and Saftey, or lack of it. Working up on the Catenary while trains hurtle along under you. That'd be a weekend closure nowadays.

👍Thanks for posting this summary of the electric traction of BR’s Modernisation Plan. However, the conclusion at 13.23 that the modernisation plan was delivered “slightly later than originally proposed” is something of an understatement in 2021!

At about 1:50 in there's a view of a filthy double chimney streamlined Coronation/Duchess with an "ordinary" (i.e. no streamlined fairings) Duchess tender which appears to have a BR number. I seem to remember reading that one streamlined engine did survive into BR ownership, possibly still in wartime black livery (it's in black and white and so filthy that the livery is pretty much impossible to discern). The engine number in the clip looked like 46243 (City of Lancaster) and a check of the 1948 Ian Allan Combined Volume reprint does indeed show that the only streamlined engine was 46243. That clip must be rare footage indeed. I wonder if any other cine footage of this rarity exists.

Well done, very interesting!

very good video, with great information, all the best.:)

Excellent presentation.

This script is excellent. Lots of good information.

Love your work as allways, do 73 sometime, its an interresting one

Class 73s and 86s were beautiful, classic, stylish & superb and I wish to God those type of trains were in service now!

I always liked the class 85s . I remember seeing them roar out of Carlisle on freight trains back in the 80s.

the 86's were great to drive. never failed on me and in multi could pull anything!

Class 90/91/DVT need a video for themselves. Good work 👍

I thoroughly enjoyed the video, iy was very well explained and a good education

When you think of BRs best efforts, most people think HST, IC225, Deltic, or even class 37, 47 etc. Rarely do the class 86s get a look in, but they should! How many other locos survived 55 years in mainline service? I really miss the 87s too, and of course the 90s are now mostly on freight which is a shame, but I have a feeling they'll be around for a while longer. The old AC sparkies have bags of character especially 81-87 with their distinctive blower sounds.

Fantastic mate thankyou! I grew up in Warrington and saw all these locos at bank Quay trainspotting in the 70's and 80s but wish I'd seen them in the beautiful electric blue and white livery before horrid yellow warning panels ruined engine liveries. Best wishes and take care

I discovered the Class 87 through train simulator, and after searching for tutorials on how to get it moving, it has become my favourite British locomotive. As I’m not from the UK I’ve never gotten to see one in real life, but I wish I could go back in time to see them in service.

Great video ... my electric following is mostly dedicated to the last of the electrics featured in this video, the Class 90.

0:56 I love the underway refueling where they suck up water from troughs on the run! I bet the pax in the first couple of coaches regret having windows open. I wonder if the crew warn them?

This video was amazing

Excellent !

Class 81’s ❤️.Brilliant video.

Very interesting thanks

Surely the first generation electric locos were the 1500V DC EM1 and EM2 classes of locomotives which ran on the erstwhile Manchester Sheffield Woodhead Route. The countries first main line electrified route! Not to mention the 1500V DC locomotives that ran in the North East in the 1920s.

Thanks for covering these, I hope one day you cover the 'Polish Class 83s' and of course the one-off Class 89 'Avocet' since I've heard that is being restored to running order.

I had been in a train that has been pushed by GA Push-Pull stock which iirc Class 90014 was pushing from Witham to Norwich. Fantastic ride even for a modern locomotive that has its origins from the 50s. Sounds from them had been are still pleasant to my ears compared to modern rolling stock of today.

Awesome video

Thanks for sharing the evolution of the railway development from steam locomotive, diesel locomotive until electric locomotive developed until it provide high speed train by having different car electric supplying inside the train, making more power supplying on fast acceleration.

7:05 the magical outside of Stafford Station. And in 2021 all that’s changed is they’ve painted some of the metal work red.

Thank you.

Excellent

I'm a tram and I approve this video! Great footage!

An excellent video and I certainly agree the West Coast electrification was the greatest success of the Modernisation plan . Actually the west coast has always been at the forefront of developments, to this day.

Nice

Best electric locos of their time!

Reminds me of the game app "Pocket Trains" which includes so many of these electric locomotives. Fond memories.

I love the 90, especially i that original darker livery, probably my favourite leccy

One thing you did miss was that despite all that was learned from the 1st generation designs, the 86s still had a major issue to start with. Like the 83s and 84s they were very rough riders, and since they had the motors hung directly on the axles, they hammered the tracks at high speed. BR modified one by fitting large flexicoil springs for secondary suspension, earning it the nickname "zebedee" after the character from "The Magic Roundabout". This proved largely successful in dealing with the ride and further members of the class were modified, becoming Class 82/2s for passenger use, with the unmodified versions being restricted to 75mph freight workings. All members of the class also had resilient wheels fitted, which feature a rubber layer between the "tyre" and the wheel to help reduce the track force. Later the rest of the fleet gained the new springs, becoming 86/4 (high speed freight) and 86/6 (heavy freight). The same suspension design was fitted to the 87s and 90s (which use the same bogies).

Great, informative video, I like the AC electrics, however I probably prefer the liveries on the EM1/2 love the old green BR livery. Incidentally was was the maximum speed of electric loco working on freight traffic?

I have a lot of love britosh electric locomotives. I love the class 87 the most

"...though slightly later than originally proposed" - I revel in these understatements!

Interesting Video, thanks! Surprised to read Mercury Arc Rectifiers were used, and not at ALL surprised they gave issues. Had quite a bit of experience with MAC in static location use, where they were OK before solid state rectifiers thrashed them for ability and longevity. Really cannot see them responding at all well though to being jarred around on a railed vehicle!

Electro-diesel engines were used in the 1970s, but by the eighties they were breaking down. My family and I got stuck miles from Ramsgate, in the middle of nowhere, for over two hours in 1988, before being rescued by a fully diesel replacement.

I love the class 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 99 great trains

Very good history lesson, and I see that the North British built electric locomotive has passed the first speed record and is now at the museum.

Really interesting and well put together. I worked for GEC Traction in the 70's and 80's at Trafford Park. I am sure there was a retired 84 parked there for the traction engineers to gain familiarity.

These were worthy successors to the Duchesses and Scots. I liked them from the outset, despite being a diehard steam enthusiast. The same claim can’t be made for the Class 40 ‘Long Pongs’ and the dreadful Metrovick Co-Bo.s Stanier had a scheme for a steam turbine condenser for the Euston-Glasgow route, but abandoned it before any metal was cut.

As I am 68 now I so remember those days when the first electric trains arrived in Euston as I used to live in Wembley. I now live in Dawlish. O lovely no wires he he.