These early engines show the distinctive style brought by P. Stirling from the G&SWR.

"Our two page engraving this week comprises a longitudinal section and half sectional plan of one of the fine passenger locomotives used for working the express traffic on the Great Northern Railway from Manchester and Leeds to London. Other views of this engine are also given on the present and opposite pages. The engine has inside cylinders 17 in. in diameter, with 2ft. stroke, and a single pair of driving wheels 7ft. 1 in. in diameter, when the tyres are new, or, say, 7 ft. in diameter when half worn. ...

....The trains worked by the engines of the class we are describing consist on the average of 10 carriages, and the speed is 44 miles per hour, exclusive of stoppages."