class-85-ac-electric

The BR Class 85 (AL5) was one of five pilot-scheme 25 kV AC electric locomotive types built for the West Coast Main Line electrification, and the only one that used a rectifier to convert the incoming AC to DC for the traction motors rather than using AC traction motors directly — see the main BR Class 85 entry for full details. Built by BR at Doncaster Works with AEI electrical equipment, the Class 85 was 40 locomotives strong, making it the most numerous of the five pilot-scheme types, and it gave the longest service of the AL types, surviving until the early 1990s. One example, 85101, is preserved at the Electric Railway Museum, Baginton.