 However, plans for a smaller 2 cylinder Pacific, with an axle load below 20 tons to allow operation across the VR mainline network, were put on hold during the 1930s.This was partly due to the decline in traffic and revenue due to the Great Depression, and partly due to the improved power outputs and efficiency from the A2 locomotives after the application of a series of smokebox design and draughting changes referred to as 'Modified Front End' in the mid-1930s.By 1943 however, the situation had changed.