The design, by South Australian Railways Locomotive Engineer William Thow, was very similar to that of the broad-gauge K class, but it was smaller and lighter.

A major design weakness of the broad-gauge K class was the lack of a leading bogie (pilot truck), which led to frequent derailments, especially on sharp curves and difficult gradients.

A partial solution was to run the locomotives in reverse – i.e., with cab leading – so that the rear bogie led, providing guidance for the driving wheels.

52 is not known, although the presence of a stopcock on both ends of the locomotive – to take water from a four-wheeled tank wagon on longer journeys – indicates that it was able to be operated both funnel-first and cab-first.

Little is known about the service life of the locomotive; it is believed to have spent most of its half-century existence at Peterborough as a shunting engine.