Hornby has expanded its range of Eastern Region ‘Pacifics’ with the arrival of the first ever ready-to-run model of the Thompson ‘A2/2’ fleet. MIKE WILD takes a detailed look at both versions of this exciting new addition for ‘OO’ gauge.
WE’VE had the Gresley ‘A3’ and ‘A4’ together with the Peppercorn ‘A1’ and ‘A2’ 4-6-2s and now it is the turn of something all the more unusual for the Eastern Region – the small fleet of six ‘A2/2s’ which were created by Edward Thompson between 1943 and 1944 through the rebuilding of Gresley’s powerful but restricted ‘P2’ 2-8-2s.
The ‘A2/2s’ were unusual in their layout as the cylinders sat behind the leading bogie and in front of the driving wheels making this small class of six locomotives stand out from the crowd. They took the names from the ‘P2s’ from which they were rebuilt and saw service both in Scotland as well as on the East Coast Main Line. As mixed traffic designated engines, they could be seen at the head of passenger and freight workings too making this a versatile new addition for ‘OO’ gauge. For more on the history for these Thompson ‘Pacifics’, see Reality Check on pages 70-73.
Hornby announced its plans to produce the first ever ready-to-run model of…
