 The first years of the 20th century saw on the VR (as elsewhere in the world) a considerable increase in both the amount of traffic and the size and weight of rolling stock being hauled.In 1907, the DD class was supplanted by the much larger and more powerful A2 class on principal mainline services.However, with their light axle load (just 12 t 10 cwt in their original form), they were quickly reassigned to the VR's branchline network, where they became a fixture for the next fifty years.