It was a successful design and would have been built in greater numbers, but an order for a further ten was cancelled in 1930 due to the reduction in freight traffic as a result of the Great Depression.

The newly amalgamated Southern Railway needed a group of powerful shunting tank locomotives to work in its marshalling yards around London and on freight transfers between them.

Robert Urie's G16 class 4-8-0 performed this task well, and further examples were on order in 1922, but Richard Maunsell considered the firebox to be too large and the superheater an unnecessary expense on such locomotives.

[2] Due to the requirement for heavy shunting, the design was provided with an 0-8-0 wheel arrangement to increase traction, whilst enabling the locomotives to negotiate tight curves prevalent in goods yards.

They were less successful at Nine Elms yard as the buffer beams overhung the ends of the locomotives by 11 ft (3.35 m) in total, which could be a disadvantage when negotiating tight curves in a confined space during shunting.

These were considered a rarity amongst locomotive crews, and due to the customised inside valve gear, the regulators worked in a different fashion to the norm, therefore causing problems amongst those unfamiliar with the design.

Eventually the preservation attempt failed, and the locomotive was on the scrap line at Eastleigh Works, with coupling rods removed and tied to one side, by October 1964.