Locomotive Magazine, July 1925
In 1925, the Madras & Southern Mahratta Railway got four 4-8-0 locomotives for their metre-gauge network which had been designed by Messrs. Rendel, Palmer & Tritton. They were built by W.G. Bagnall and got the numbers 500 to 503. Some visible features were the inclined cylinders, the Belpaire firebox and steam pipes which were partly external. Despite an axle load of only 8.7 tons, they had a good power to weight ratio. Also the tenders were relatively light, partly due to their rigid frame without the extra weight of bogies. 