AMAZING GRACE as Bachmann V2 models stir the memories

NOW that a clutch of the long-awaited and finely detailed models of Gresley’s fast, powerful, and beautifully proportioned V2 2-6-2 mixed traffic locomotives has been released by Bachmann Europe plc, I thought it worth returning to the history of this once-numerous class of 184, of which only the pioneering 1936-built No. 4771 (BR No. 60800) Green Arrow survives.

Named after the LNER’s express parcels service, the locomotive remains in the custody of the National Railway Museum and was last steamed 14 years ago, although its eventual return to main line working remains part of the Science Museum Group’s Rail Vehicle Strategy plans for 2019-34.

The V2 2-6-2s delivered an outstanding tractive effort of 33,730lb and shared the same 7P6F power classification as locomotives such as the ‘Britannia’ Pacifics of British Railways that appeared seven years after the last V2 emerged from Darlington Works in July 1944 – just a few days before this particular writer