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BR Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 35024 East Asiatic Company

Conceived in 1937 when Oliver Bulleid became Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway, the Merchant Navy Class represented Bulleid's vision for a quick accelerating, mixed traffic 4-6-2 locomotive, equally capable of hauling passenger services (such as the Golden Arrow and Atlantic Coast Expresses), or freight workings, to a speed of around 75mph.

Mainly designed from the Brighton Works Drawing Office, under C.S ♥♥♥♥♥, Bulleid, always aware of practical applications and costing implications, ensured that the best design practices of the time were applied to the new locomotive. Like his mentor, Nigel Gresley, Bulleid was a technically arrogant CME, an advocate of locomotives being driven hard and to brisk schedules and this materialized in his design ideas. In 1934, Bulleid had been opposed the use of streamlining, but for the Merchant Navy's 'air-smoothed' design it suited his purposes, being easy to clean mechanically and hiding the boiler's external pipes, which in turn meant they could be run for function, rather than aesthetics.

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