Up to 1891, 185 were built: 165 by Derby Works and the last 20 by the Vulcan Foundry.

All 185 passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) at the grouping in 1923.

The class had only lasted as long as it had because the Midland Railway had signed a contract in 1866 to provide shunting engines to Staveley Ironworks for 100 years; the 1Fs, as they were by then, were the only locomotives suitable to perform this duty.

The surviving engine became the inspiration of the Bachmann Branchline OO scale model of the class introduced in 2014.

41708 has been bought by Barrow Hill who took the first steps to return the locomotive to working order in November, 2020.