A2/2 "Thane of Fife" - Revolution or Devolution? 

This A2/2 defiantly looks like an American locomotive and the New Zealand's Q class that were made in USA only the A2/2 may be larger. The platform is looking terrific and adds to the videos with the run at the end. Your videos are becoming very polished, and I wouldn't change a thing. Great stuff, Jersey Bill

I bought this loco because it was on offer at Amazon and I couldn’t resist it . I was never a fan of Thomson locos , but actually I find her pretty handsome . When she arrived the buffer beam was loose but I was able to reattach easily . It is a very smooth runner , so overall pretty impressed . It clearly is built to a cost . Surprisingly she has become one of my favourites .

I love the A2/2! i dont care what anyone says, the classic gresley-styled design and the unique pushed back cylinders make it just unlike anything else! change my mind.

Good looking model ran well on your layout. Any design departure from Gresley was bound to be controversial. Bear in mind this was a wartime design where ease of maintenance was important. Your layout is looking great. Thanks for sharing. Regards Paul.

You know your stuff Hilton, you’ll be on the discovery channel soon 👍 Layout is coming in a treat you’ll be fully finished soo and then gonna have to start a new one 😄😆😆

If it's any indication of my thoughts on the Thompson Pacifics, I've got both an A2/2 and A2/3 in my fleet, although I'm puzzled as to why Hornby haven't done the A2/1 as well. The models aren't horrible, but I don't like their washed-out green and chealp/plasticky feel. Whenever I'm handling the A2/2, I worry about breaking the running board.

Hi Hylton. You've chosen to swim in very choppy waters with this one! The Railway Mania episode you refer to is essential viewing/listening for anyone who is prepared to have an open mind regarding the exploits of Mr Thompson. IMO, he truly did have an "impossible job", having to unexpectedly follow in the footsteps on the legend that is Sir Nigel during wartime where he had to "make do and mend" for the sake of the nation. His B1s were excellent machines, but his Pacifics were ugly spuds, that didn't last very long. His L1 was pretty hopeless too. Peppercorn rekindled the "spirit of Gresley" with his phenominal A1s & A2s. If you want to see some content from a true Thompson fan, then head over to the "Flying Scot" channel. The loco did look good on your layout, and you gave if a fair review. But I'd have the 37 - or Torndao - anyday...

Colour will always be contentious because the air between it and the object alters what we see. The further the object is away from us, the more muted the colour is. At distance, many colours are difficult to differentiate - they can appear to be different shades of grey. There is a debate as to whether the colours should be accurate, or whether they should be muted, and if so, by how much.

Nice vid, fyi the A2/2s still had three cylinders, but with three independent sets of walschaerts and divided drive rather than conjugated valve gear on the middle cylinder

Another great review cuz, that layout is looking sharp!

Ah, British Railways Green - a sleeper subject if ever there was one! It certainly does look washed out on the Hornby Thompson Pacifics, across both A2/2s and A2/3s but if their depots couldn't be bothered to get the paint right they might have well looked like that back in the late fifties. Also I dunno who that FlyingScott feller is who you spoke such kind words about at the end there, but he seems a right hack...! PS. you mention the A2/2s were 2 cylinder locos - but they were actually 3 cylindered, which is why they were so long, as the middle cylinder was placed far forward in order to fit both Walschaerts valves and in order for the middle cylinder to drive the front axle.

You've got some really nice angles for shooting your layout, Hylton, that's either really good luck or really good forward planning. I'll assume it's the latter 😊. Things are looking very well developed now, I'm looking forward to how the distillery turns out. Cheers, Chris

I just completed fully re-lining my own A2/2 with Fox Transfers' own BR orange/black/orange lining (SKU FRH4050_32706), it lifts the appearance of the locomotive substantially. Deepening the green with weathering or varnishing can be considered. It is mildly time-consuming to re-line the locomotive and tender but, like I said, it really makes the washed-out green look MUCH better.

Hi mate I hope you are well I have that model too. I notice yours have the same issue as mine at the front of the model and on the running board as well Things not fitted fully. It all in my review of her. Your editing and camera skills are fantastic. They a good book out called Edward Thompson of the lner by Peter grafton top read too. In a word am jealous of your skill Thank you for sharing your models with us Keep safe ARP

Had one of these myself coming on to 2 years, 18th July 2022 was when I bought mine but got my one for the bargain price of £120, my only criticism of it is the green, recently I did try putting a varnish over the green to make it darker but when I tried it it didn’t look right so stopped straight away before I ended up ruining my loco, it’s definitely a favourite of mine, I really like the overall design myself, it may look ugly but to me it has character and a real presence on the track, most people who say they don’t like this tend to have their feelings of the designer and the changes that he had to make influence the decision bit as you said at the beginning the railway mania podcast addresses all of those and as the facts that are available now they show that the A2/2 rebuild was very much needed and was the correct decision, I did use to be against Thompson but now now and his Pacific’s while ugly looking are a personal favourite of mine, as I say I do have one of these, it is Thane of Fife but I also have a kitbuilt model,of the A1/1 Great Northern and if you haven’t seen that I would recommend looking at photos of it, it’s not available as a ready to run model though but hopefully one day we may see that be produced, back to this model though it’s very good from hornby, some have reported quality issues but I haven’t experienced any myself, the accuracy of the model is also very good, I think when hornby did these they had help from Tony Wright who is one of the most knowledgable of the LNER and it’s resulted in a very accurate model of these locomotives, overall great review, a favourite locomotive of mine in my collection and maybe one day might look at sound fitting my one, keep up the great work Proper Chuffed.

The layout looks fantastic mate, and that A2/2 is class. 😊

Definitely a marmite loco my man, but being odd, I kinda like her! Great vid again man! - James

The A2/2 locos definitely had 3 cylinders.

Great video as always. I’ve not bought a Hornby loco yet. I don’t know, I’m not feeling Hornby. I think personally I’d need more experience before knowing what locos are worth buying from them. To my inexperienced mind, Bachmann, Accurascale etc seem to offer much more for your money. I could be wrong. Saying that, I have my beady eye on that coronation observation coach.

I hate the flangeless trailing bogie wheels too - my A4, 'Gadwall', has them, yuk. The A2/2s are rather good looking beasts, I must say, they do need a rake of Thompson coaches to pull to look their best. I must say the layout is coming along very nicely, I've been at mine for 14 months and only just got it running on the DCC bus. The colour is certainly odd, but who knows?

The best-looking Pacific? No. The Cylinders are fitted behind the front bogie and those air defectors? Thomson hated everything Sir Nigel Geasley made. Thomson did design some good locos, but this is not one of them. Martin. (Thailand)

BR referred to the loco colour as dark green which in no way is a description of that carried by this loco - which is almost the old apple green. That aside, a good review of another Hornby item which, as usual, is overpriced.

It's a great model of a freakin' ugly design - you all know what I mean - that ugly gap between the leading truck and the cylinders.