87001 was built at Crewe, entering traffic on 29 June, 1973 allocated to Willesden depot. The Stephenson Locomotive Society persuaded British Rail to name 87001 as Stephenson to mark the 1975 celebrations of 150 years of railways in the United Kingdom and a naming ceremony was held on 14 January, 1976.
The Class 87 locomotive design resulted from a requirement for a more powerful mixed traffic electrical locomotive by British Rail, needed to cope with the route gradients of the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction and Glasgow. Electrification had been newly authorised over this section in 1970 and was scheduled for completion by May 1974, leaving little time to design a completely new locomotive from scratch and so British Rail decided to base the new class on the existing Class 86 locomotives.
Class 87 locomotives were also fitted for multiple working, allowing two locomotives to haul heavy overnight express freight and Freightliner container trains in addition to the few overnight and sleeper passenger trains. Although initially entering service unnamed the class were later given names, mostly associated with the West Coast route, the North of England and/or Scotland.