1897 was the very year of George Armstrong's retirement, so it is uncertain if the design should be attributed to him or to his superior at Swindon, William Dean.

The class was built in eight batches: Rebuilding with Belpaire fireboxes commenced in the early years of the Churchward era.

[8] In their final form, with or without fully enclosed cabs, 110 of them survived into British Railways ownership, the last of them being retired in 1959.

When autotrains were introduced on the GWR, a trial was made of enclosing the engine in coachwork to resemble the coaches.

This article relating to steam locomotives operated in the United Kingdom is a stub.