Great Northern (UK) class H1

The obsolescence of the existing freight locomotives on the Great Northern shortly before the turn of the century faced the problem that there was no free capacity in the local locomotive factories. Neither the own workshops in Doncaster, nor the commercial British factories were able to deliver any significant number in a timely manner. So they turned to Baldwin in the USA, which designed a freight locomotive for use in England.

While in Great Britain at that time ordinary freight locomotives were normally manufactured with a 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, mainline locomotives in the USA were always designed with a leading axle or bogie. Thus the new locomotive was a lightly built Mogul, which was delivered a total of 20 times in 1899. It corresponded mainly to American design principles and got a four-axle tender with bogies. Typically British features were the placement of the sandbox under the running boards and a British-design chimney.

During operation, a somewhat high coal consumption and a very high consumption of lubricating oil were noticed. Despite the leading axle, their running was considered unsteady and due to the light construction, the continuous steaming performance did not have any significant advantages compared to earlier freight locomotives. Even the experimental use with London suburban trains from King's Cross did not bring convincing results. Thus, the decommissioning took place between 1909 and 1915, when enough freight locomotives from indigenous production were available.