A new name in ‘OO’ gauge ready-to-run has delivered its first ready-to-run locomotive – the Great Central Railway ‘A5’ 4-6-2T. MIKE WILD takes a closer look at this enticing new addition for Eastern Region modellers.
THE 4-6-2 wheel arrangement was an unusual format for a tank engine, but the LNER inherited four designs at the 1923 Grouping - three from the North Eastern Railway and what became the 'A5' from the Great Central Railway.
These substantial tank engines were Robinson’s last passenger tank engine design and were introduced in three batches between 1911 and 1917 with a fourth batch ordered by the GCR built after the 1923 Grouping by the LNER with a fifth and final order placed with Hawthorn Leslie by the LNER and delivered in 1925-1926. They were originally classified ‘9N’ by the GCR.
