The Class 290 was a development of the earlier Class 270 locomotives, studied under the Rete Adriatica; it kept the wheelbase, but replaced the boiler with a slightly bigger one, with a minimally coned rear ring.

Its construction was continued under the new FS management, which made it one of its twelve standard designs; it was the last and most successful 0-6-0 Italian locomotive.

The first 30 locomotives were fitted with a two-axle tender, with a coal capacity of 3,400 kg (7,500 lb) and a water capacity of 8,000 L (1,800 imp gal; 2,100 US gal); the subsequent ones were fitted with the three-axle tender that would see widespread service under the FS (especially behind the Class 625 and Class 640 locomotives).

[3][2] The first 112 locomotives were classified as Class RA 350 bis (with running numbers between 3631 and 3742); of these, 52 were taken over by the FS in July 1905 upon formation, while the other 60 were taken over by the new Strade Ferrate Meridionali (Southern Railways), a rump of the RA, until its incorporation with the FS in July 1906.

[4][5] The last member of the class to remain active, the 290.319, survived into preservation; it is currently kept in the Pietrarsa railway museum.