A total of 120 was built at the North Eastern Railway's locomotive workshops at both Gateshead and Darlington, between 1898 and 1902, in six batches of 20.

[3] During World War II, 40 locomotives were loaned to the Great Western Railway (GWR).

The first transfers to the GWR occurred in October 1939, and the last was not returned to the LNER until December 1946.

[3][4] The general LNER renumbering scheme was prepared in 1943, and at that time, 85 locomotives of the J25 class remained: these were allotted 5645-5729, being renumbered during 1946, apart from six which had been withdrawn in the interim.

Seventy-six locomotives survived into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948.