From 1869, the Midland Railway had tank locomotives built with two coupled axles and a trailing, two-axle bogie for the London suburban lines. The first six came from Beyer, Peacock & Co. in 1869 and are known as class 690. 20 more came in 1870 from Dübs, which were almost identical in construction and were designated class 780.
They had a double frame that also served as a water tank. All locomotives initially had a condensing apparatus, which was later removed from most. Johnson later rebuilt them with a new boiler and cab. In the 1923 grouping, all came to the LMS except for one, which had been withdrawn in 1921. The withdrawals of the others took place between 1924 and 1935.