In the 1930s, railway companies were starting to feel the increased competition from air and road travel as the demand for speed, efficiency and luxury grew. These pressures meant LNER had to develop their locomotives to enable them to compete. During the 1920s a series of experiments to improve performance were carried out on the A1s. This resulted in the birth of the A3 Class in July 1927 when 2544 'Enterprise' was converted from an A1 to an A3.
As well as converting A1s, there were twenty seven A3s constructed from new, one of which being 2795 'Call Boy' as modelled here as the second Corgi Rail Legends model release.
'Call Boy' entered service on 19th April 1930 and worked for over thirty-three years and spent it entirety allocated to Edinburgh at both St Margaret’s and Haymarket engine sheds. When three months old, 'Call Boy' was attached to a corridor type tender and was frequently used on the famous non-stop 'Flying Scotsman' run between London and Edinburgh. Unlike the early great northern type tenders, the corridor enabled fireman and drivers to be able to pass between the locomotive and carriages so they could rotate crews without having to stop the train.
This model depicts 'Call Boy' between 1930 and 1937 when it had a LNER apple green livery, dome type boiler and single chimney.