BR Class 83

The BR Class 83 locomotives, originally designated AL3, were fifteen Bo-Bo 25 kV AC electric locomotives built between 1960 and 1962 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry works in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. They were the third of the five AL-class types ordered for comparative evaluation on the newly-electrifying West Coast Main Line, and were English Electric's entry in the evaluation alongside the AEI-built AL1 and the Metropolitan-Vickers AL2.

English Electric brought considerable experience in traction electrical systems to the AL3 design — the company had built the successful diesel-electric locomotives 10000 and 10001 for the LMS in 1947–48 and would go on to design the highly successful Class 40 and Class 50 diesel electrics. The AL3 used English Electric's own rectifier and control gear, rated at approximately 2,950 hp at the rail. In practice the fifteen locomotives proved reliable and gave good service on WCML express workings, though like all the first-generation AC electrics they were eventually displaced by the higher-powered Class 86 production locomotives.

The class was withdrawn progressively through the 1980s. One locomotive, 83012, was preserved and is held at Barrow Hill Roundhouse in Derbyshire, making it the sole surviving example of the AL3 class and a representative of English Electric's contribution to the WCML electrification programme.