The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they were given famous names from Scottish lore. Six locomotives of the class were built; introduced between 1934 and 1936. In 1936, the Class P2 were given streamlined fronts, similar to that of the Class A4. Between 1943 and 1944 the class were rebuilt under Gresley's successor Edward Thompson into the LNER Thompson Class A2/2 4-6-2 type. History Design The locomotives were designed by Nigel Gresley to haul express trains over the difficult Edinburgh to Aberdeen section of the London and North Eastern Railway. In the design Gresley was influenced by recent French practice, in particular passenger locomotives of the Paris à Orléans railway. The first locomotive of the class, No. 2001 Cock o' the North, was introduced in 1934. It was built at Doncaster Works, with Lentz-type rotary-cam actuated poppet valve-gear supplied by the Associated Locomotive Equipment Company, and a double-chimney Kylchap exhaust, each chimney using four nozzle blastpipes. The chimney system was designed to take different fittings to allow experimentation with exhaust arrangements. The boiler barrel was of the design used on Gresley Pacifics, fitted to a larger firebox. The front end design was of the same form as the Class W1 locomotive, No. 10000, derived from Dr. Dalby's wind tunnel research, and the attached tender was of the standard design used on Gresley Pacifics. The P2 introduced a vee-shaped cab front, designed to give a better view forward. (The same design was later used on the A4 and V2 express engines). No. 2001 was fitted with a Crosby chime whistle which Gresley had obtained from Captain Howey of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, and which was originally intended for one of that railway's Canadian Pacific style locomotives. The second locomotive of the class, No. 2002 Earl Marischal was completed by 1935, also at Doncaster, and was fitted with Walschaerts valve gear, as used on Gresley Pacifics, and had a greater superheater heating area of , obtained by using larger diameter fire tubes. At low cutoffs smoke clearance on No. 2002 was unsatisfactory: wind tunnel experiments led to an additional second pair of smoke deflectors being fitted inward of the first. No. 2002 proved to be more