The notation 2-4-0T indicates a tank locomotive of this wheel arrangement, on which its water and fuel is carried on board the engine itself, rather than in an attached tender.

The 2-4-0 configuration was developed in the United Kingdom in the late 1830s or early 1840s as an enlargement of the 2-2-0 and 2-2-2 types, with the additional pair of coupled wheels giving better adhesion.

During 1846–47, Alexander Allan of the newly established London and North Western Railway (LNWR) created the Crewe type of locomotive, with a 2-2-2 wheel arrangement for passenger classes and 2-4-0 for freight.

[1] During the mid-1840s, John Hawkshaw developed a new style of 2-4-0 passenger locomotive with outside cylinders in front of the leading wheels and the rear driving axle behind the firebox.

This layout provided steady running at high speeds, despite a long overhang at the front.

A locomotive of this type hauled the first Orient Express from Paris to Munich, a notable achievement for such a small engine.

[5] The New South Wales Government Railways F351 (later X10) class 2-4-0 tank locomotives were intended to haul suburban passenger trains in Sydney, and delivered in 1885 - 1887.

South Australian Railways used P class 2-4-0 tank locomotives to haul suburban passenger services in Adelaide, from 1884 to 1929.

In 1893–94, three of the L class 2-4-0T locomotives were rebuilt to a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement at Newmarket workshops, with larger boilers and enlarged cylinders.

This new design was classified La, but their limited coal bunker capacity remained a drawback.

The solution was to add a trailing pony truck to accommodate a larger coal bunker, converting them to a 4-4-2T wheel arrangement.

A standard gauge railway line between Salt River and Wynberg in the Cape of Good Hope, constructed with private capital, was opened to the public on 19 December 1864.

[6][7] Before 1846, the type was used on the Liverpool and Manchester, Birmingham and Gloucester, North Midland and London and South Western Railways.

One of the latter's types, the Improved Precedent Class Hardwicke famously set outstanding records for the LNWR during the Race to the North in 1895.