The Class 89 locomotive was designed by Brush Traction, Loughborough to meet a specification issued by British Rail.

[7] The contract to build the locomotive was awarded to Brush in June 1983, with BREL Crewe as the nominated subcontractor and delivery planned for September 1985.

[7][11] The locomotive was initially allocated to Crewe Electric depot for trials along the West Coast Main Line.

[6][12] On 3 July 1988, the locomotive hauled the Mallard 50th anniversary special from London King's Cross, along with the return journey.

[7] As the development of the ECML Electrification continued, the engine was painted into the new style InterCity Swallow livery and named Avocet, in recognition of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB),[6] by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 16 January 1989 at King's Cross station.

[13] After the ceremony the locomotive hauled a special train conveying the RSPB president Magnus Magnusson, along with other VIPs, to Sandy.

Additionally, having received no orders from BR in return for their design investment, there was little incentive for Brush to construct spare parts for it.

[15] During this period of ownership the locomotive appeared at every major British Rail depot open day, in a slowly deteriorating Intercity Swallow livery.

Brush did eventually win the contracts to build Channel Tunnel locomotives, and similarities between these and 89001 enabled suitable spares to be constructed.

Suffering from a motive power shortage, it purchased 89001 and repaired it for use on London to Leeds and Bradford services, investing £100,000 in an overhaul.

[21] The locomotive was mostly complete, although a number of major components required expensive overhaul before it could run on the main line again.

Electrical restoration work focused on repairing and/or refurbishing the items that led to the locomotive being withdrawn from service, namely the traction motors and their associated field converter electronics.

The locomotive was lifted by Harry Needle Railroad Company at Barrow Hill Engine Shed in December 2010 and three traction motors were removed, including the one known to be faulty.

[27][28] Since 1989, numbers in the Class 89 range have been used to register preserved mainline-accredited diesel and electric locomotives, except shunters, on TOPS and its successor systems.