[2][a] Although officially designated by GWR as "light goods and shunting engines",[3] they were also used for passenger working on branch, suburban, and shorter mainline journeys.

Nineteen withdrawn locomotives were sold to the London Transport Executive and industry, of which ten were later preserved, along with six that were retrieved from scrapyards.

The GWR started designing and building 0-6-0 tank locomotives in 1860,[5] and this continued into the BR era until 1956, with a total of 2,393 being built.

The Great Western first fitted pannier tanks (mounted on the side of the boiler but not reaching down to the running platform) in 1898 to a single 4-4-0T locomotive, No.

The acquired tank locomotives came from different manufacturers, were a mixture of side, saddle and pannier, and varied widely by size and state of repair.

The first batch of 300 locomotives built between 1929 and 1931 included a medium height chimney, a mid-boiler dome, safety valve with cover, and an enclosed cab.

le Fleming describes the 5700 class as "an almost unaltered continuation of the 27xx rebuilds"[2] and Holcroft describes them as "practically identical to 2721 rebuilds",[27] but according to Oswald Nock it was "a thoroughly modern design",[28] and Jones notes that design included "numerous detailed improvements" and reflected improved construction techniques.

The eleven locomotives in the class had a condensing apparatus that fed the exhaust steam back into the water tanks.

[34] The tanks themselves were shortened to make room for the external exhaust pipes and were extended down to the footplate in front of the cab to increase their capacity.

[34] The pumps led to (unsuccessful) tests with these locomotives acting as fire engines during World War II.

To work over the electrified underground lines, the 9700 Class locomotives had a special type of ATC equipment that lifted clear of the centre rail and had tripcock brake valves that matched the London Transport signalling system.

[25] A small number of 5700s were adapted for specific tasks: The first 5700s were built in 1929 by North British Locomotive Co. and, later in the year, at GWR's Swindon Works.

[g][20] The building programme was partly funded by interest-free government loans intended to relieve unemployment during the Great Depression.

[61] The 5700s bought by London Transport between 1956 and 1963 were repainted in the standard LT maroon livery with yellow and black lining.

[63][4] They were also used on standby for more powerful locomotives, sometimes producing "firework displays" as they strived to keep to the schedule with heavier loads.

The locomotives (Taff Vale Railway H class) on the incline were fitted with coned boilers so that there was always sufficient water above the firebox.

[25] In the early years of British Railways, the boundaries between the Western and the Southern Region changed a number of times.

[67] 5700s took up new duties in a variety of places: The last scheduled passenger trains hauled by 5700s on BR were on seen London Midland Region on the Wrexham to New Brighton route (passing over old LNER territory).

The service on Bank Holidays was so popular that demand outstripped available DMUs, and a relief train of four coaches pulled by No.

Two more 5700s were used over the Spring Bank Holiday that year, but from then BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T locomotives usually handled the relief services.

[88] London Transport considered replacing the steam fleet with diesel shunters, and had also tested (unsuccessfully) a Great Northern Railway Class J52 locomotive in 1955.

Modifications were needed to the cab for clearance and the tripcock brake valves after problems were found when running in reverse.

[91] Only eleven were running at any one time, the original L90 and L91 were withdrawn for repairs but scrapped instead and replaced by other locomotives which carried the same number.

[94][k] London Transport commemorated the end of operating steam locomotives with a special run from Moorgate station to Neasden depot.

The NCB locomotives did not receive maintenance to match GWR standards and were run into the ground, saving the cost of expensive overhauls.

Fuels, a division of Stephenson Clarke Ltd., and was used to move spoil to slag heaps at Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen colliery near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

5764 (LT L95) was steamed the day it arrived at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway, being lit-up before it had been removed from the low-loader on which it was delivered.

[110] Following completion of an extensive overhaul in Llangollen engine shed, 7754 returned to service in September 2023 wearing Transitional livery (Great Western Green with British Railways lettering in GWR Egyptian font).

[128] Vintage Trains announced in January 2024 that as their intention was to focus primarily on sister engines 7752 and 9600 for operational use and future mainline running, 7760 alongside select additional steam engines which didn't fit in with their future development plans were to be sold to new owners.

5764 appeared several times in the 1976 BBC television adaptation of Charles Dickens' short ghost story, The Signal-Man.