[2] Wardale's purpose in putting forward the "Super Class 5 4-6-0" design concept (as he then called it) was to offer a future for steam hauled trains on the main lines in the UK on which the use of heritage traction is likely to be gradually phased out as the speed and density of commercial rail traffic increase.

The project was spearheaded by a small team of professional engineers, scientists and businessmen whose common purpose was to see steam traction continue in main-line operation into the foreseeable future.

The project team also undertook extensive research into the possibilities of developing alternative designs based around the high efficiency and low maintenance concepts of the 5AT.

These advances are summarized as follows: In addition, the locomotive would have incorporated the following features that would have minimized its maintenance requirements and increased its reliability: In March 2012, after eleven years of development, the decision was made to suspend the project due to lack of financial support.

[16] In the project Feasibility Study, it was estimated that the funding required to complete the detail design, manufacture, assembly, testing and main-line approvals for a prototype locomotive was slightly over £10 million at 2010 prices.