A New P2 for The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust invited us, and our ‘Prince of Wales’ loco model, to their fancy new facilities to see what they’ve achieved so far. It was an amazing opportunity to see their work up close and compare details with our model. It certainly shows the attention to detail from the Hornby engineers.

With the help of volunteers, professionals, contractors, grants, and lots of donations, the Trust has built this machine from scratch. But this is no ordinary recreation. Using Sir Nigel Gresley’s 'Cock o’ the North' as their design basis, they are using modern technology to improve the areas the P2 didn’t deliver on the first time around.

All six of the original P2 locos were scrapped in the 1950s and 60s. So, there were no elements to reverse engineer. Luckily enough, they had Gresley’s original 2D drawings, which gave them a solid basis to start from.

Now, nine years later, they have made impressive progress. According to the Trust’s chairman, Steve Davies MBE, the end is “tantalisingly close”.

“The cylinder block is being hydraulic tested in Irving this week, and we hope that will be brought down soon. Everything is on track; the frames for the tender are virtually finished.

“The one area that still needs further investment is the valve gear, but we’ve got about 90% of the modern drawings for that now complete, and our priority is to build a major component of the valve gear in the next six months or so, so that we can demonstrate to our covenanters how this thing is going to work.

“But fundamentally, we’re there. The boiler is on track – that will be ready in the next two to three months […] The major chunks of capital expenditure are there. We’re hoping, actually, within the next 18 months to two years, we’ll have a substantially complete locomotive.”

All they need to finish the project by their September 2025 target is a little more money. If you’d like to be a part of railway heritage history, you can find out more about the project and donate on their website.

Building Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive

The original P2s built by Gresley were touted as the most powerful steam locos to ever run on British railways. Sleek, smart, and impressive, railway chiefs had high expectations for this class.

Gresley made the P2s to traverse the rugged terrain of the Aberdeen to Edinburgh line. Trains from London would get to Scotland quickly, but as soon as they hit those tricky highlands, the locomotives would struggle with the steep climbs. Unfortunately, for all the incredible technology and engineering these engines displayed, there were equally as many issues.

Each of the six P2s was slightly different as Gresley tried to correct the various problems. For example, No. 2002 ‘Earl Marischal’ had a Walschaerts valve gear to better control the steam flow. All P2s after that had a more streamlined design that was typical of the succeeding Pacifics.

Despite his best efforts, the P2s did not travel around corners well, and the crank axles would often fail. After Gresley's death, Edward Thompson gave each locomotive an overhaul, turning them into the Pacifics. These had limited success and were eventually scrapped.

Scaling the P2 steam locomotive

Our newly tooled 'Prince of Wales' loco will excite model railway fans for so many reasons! It is a faithful, detailed replica of the steam engine currently in reconstruction, given the seal of approval by the A1 Locomotive Trust chairman, Steve Davies MBE, and the engineers working on the project. In fact, we had to wrestle the model off them, they were so enamoured of it!

But our star P2 product has lots of other interesting features. Our lead design engineer, Phil Morley, has created an articulated coupling system that makes joining locomotive and tender easier than ever. With eight points of contact electric connectivity pulling the models closer together, it gives a more prototypical finish with the hinged fall plate on the back of the locomotive.

New Steam System

The P2 'Prince of Wales' model comes with the new Hornby steam generator, an HM7000 decoder, and a speaker. The HM7000 decoder controls the steam output, so the effect works in time with the sound chuff rate. Another development of the steam system is the use of a sensor which accurately detects the wheel speed of the locomotive and perfectly syncs the sound and steam effects with the piston action of the locomotive.

Experience this exciting feature with your own Gresley P2, available on our website now! These impressive steam locos will sell out quickly, and we’d hate you to miss out. There is also a 'Prince of Wales' model without the steam generator if you don't want this new functionality.

If you have any questions or comments, email us at marketing@hornby.com. We love to hear from you.

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