From 1869, the Midland Railway had tank locomotives built with two coupled axles and a trailing, two-axle bogie for the London suburban routes. 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 mostly removed. Johnson later rebuilt it with a new boiler and cab. In the 1923 grouping, all came to the LMS except for one, which had been retired in 1921. Their decommissioning took place between 1924 and 1935.