Between 1903 and 1905 the Great Central Railway procured a total of 40 class 9K tank locomotives for their London suburban lines, which were based on the 2-4-2T class 9G tank locomotives and were designed by John G. Robinson. They were created by enlarging the boiler on the 9G and accommodating the extra weight and length by replacing the leading axle with a bogie. They were stationed at London's Marylebone railway station and were distinguished by the fact that they were fitted with scooping devices for the water troughs introduced at the time to refill water on the move. A further twelve class 9L locomotives followed in 1907. By widening the water tanks by three inches, they had a larger water capacity and the higher walls of the coal bunker meant that more coal could be carried.

The use in London did not last long, as the electric railcars could run at higher average speeds on competing lines and the steam locomotives therefore had to be more powerful. This led to the introduction of the class 9N with the 4-6-2T wheel arrangement from 1911. The 9K and 9L were subsequently moved to other locations and used, for example, on suburban lines from Manchester or in central England for commuter trains. In 1914 and 1915, a 9L and a 9K were each fitted with a superheated boiler, but these initially remained one-offs.

After the LNER took over operations in 1923, the classes were now designated C13 and C14. After a short time, shorter chimneys were installed to ensure suitability for the loading gauge of the entire LNER network. In addition, the scoops were removed because they weren't really necessary on short-haul routes. Between 1926 and 1935, all locomotives were given a new boiler with a superheater as part of the scheduled boiler replacement. British Railways took over all in 1948 and used them unchanged until the mid-1950s. New competition now arose in the form of the new diesel railcars, which soon made them surplus. Almost all locomotives were scrapped between 1957 and 1959 and one locomotive of each class was used until 1960.