The Class 470 locomotive was one of twelve standard designs developed by the FS right after their institution, and was intended for heavy mountain work.

The two extreme axles were given a lateral play of 40 millimetres (1.6 in) and the central wheels were without flanges, to allow the locomotive to deal even with sharp curves.

The boiler was common with that of the FS Class 680, as was the four-cylinder compound Plancher engine, in which the two high pressure (HP) and the two low pressure (LP) cylinders were respectively grouped together, with each pair being served by a single piston valve via a crossed port arrangement.

[1][4] P. M. Kalla-Bishop suggested that the Midland Railway 0-10-0 "Lickey Banker", which shared with the Class 470 the wheelbase and the crossed port arrangement, may have been inspired by it, as a complete sets of drawings of the Italian locomotive were stored at Derby.

However, the Class 470 had the dubious honour of being the first Italian steam locomotive to be displaced from a main line by electrification, as in 1907 work on the Giovi section of the Turin-Genoa railway began, with the first tests running in June 1910; on the 3.5% (1 in 28½) steep incline, compared with the Class E.550, the Class 470 was completely outperformed by the smaller and lighter electric locomotive, only managing to pull 170 t at 25 km/h (16 mph), while the latter managed to pull 190 t at 50 km/h (31 mph), while eliminating issues such as most physical effort and smoke in tunnels.