Hornby R3977 BR, Thompson Class A2/2, 4-6-2, 60502 'Earl Marischal' - Era 5Upon becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER, Thompson sought to create an unstreamlined, mixed traffic version of Gresley's A4 Pacific locomotives. Being unable to secure permission to construct new locomotives, Thompson decided to rebuild the 2 8 2 P2 Class locomotives as the new A2 2 Class. Thompson advocated divided drive, a system in which the middle cylinder drove the forward two of the six driving wheels whilst the outside cylinders