For the inclines over the Western Ghat, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway had initially used pairs of small 0-4-0T tank locomotives, coupled back-to-back. Five much more powerful 4-6-0ST saddle tank locomotives were built in 1863 to 1865 by Sharp, Stewart & Co. and numbered 109 to 113. They had been designed by J. Kershaw.

The broad gauge allowed the placement of inside cylinders with steam chests between them. Having inside and outside frames with coupling rods mounted on outside cranks, they were the only Indian broad gauge locomotives with this arrangement. As the bogie had an extremely short wheelbase of 3 ft 2 in and carried less weight in total than one driving axle, it was most likely only used for better guidance in curves.

The firebox was wide with a water-filled separator in the middle and had two doors. On the image, one can see the sledge block brakes which were mounted between the driving wheels and directly acted on the rails. These are said to have been removed before entry into service. Since these locomotives were not identified as a success, no more were built and the last one was scrapped in 1886.