All of Thompson's pacifics are seemingly shrouded in controversy. They're often overshadowed by enthusiasts in favour of Gresley's famous A3's and A4's, at worst, they're derided and provide a lightning rod for passionate criticism of their designer Sir Edward Thompson. But by many accounts from footplate crew they were good performers and were stronger than their more celebrated LNER cousins.

This is the A2/3 which is the latest brand new tooling from Hornby to hit the shops, and like the distinctive looking A2/2's are currently shining a light on these powerful LNER locomotives.

In fact, with they're 6'2" driving wheels they had the highest tractive effort, and therefore were the MOST POWERFUL LNER PACIFICS. Even Peppercorn's popular A2 class was a refinement of the A2/3 and had the same vital statistics. The fact that they were built at all is testament to the success and solidity of his predecessors design.

The A2/2's (see previous video) were brutish looking locomotives with their small smoke deflectors perched on top of the smokebox and were of course the controversial rebuilds of Gresley's immensely proportioned P2 Mikados. Whilst these A2/3's were new builds and had a more conventional appearance, they are still considered ungainly by many. I think this is mainly down to the positioning of the cylinders that are located further back than what the eye is used to, but I'll confess, that during custom weathering this pair for @LNER_Steam and @HornbyModelRailways, they've definitely won me over!

Sit back and enjoy the sight of two A2/3's at speed on Neville Grove and synced with archive sound recorded by Peter Handford in the 1950's. These historic recordings, and many other besides, are available to purchase through Old Thundridge Records. Many thanks to them for giving me permission to use them in my videos.

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