[3] On succeeding William Dean as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR), G. J. Churchward planned the introduction of a series of locomotives designed to tackle the South Devon Banks.

Churchward looked at the best practice from both Europe and America, and was impressed by the performance of the de Glehn compounds running on the Nord railway in France.

[4] La France was visibly not a GWR engine, although fitted with a Swindon chimney and paired with a standard tender, as immediately recognisable from firebox and the cab.

No.102 hauled the inaugural down Cornish Riviera Express from Paddington on 1 July 1904, this becoming a regular turn which required a non-stop run to Plymouth.

[4] In practice, La France did not provide any significant improvement in either performance or economy compared to No 171 Albion, Churchward's prototype 4-6-0 which was converted to a 4-4-2 specifically for comparison with the French locomotive.