A North British Railway tradition was to use old tender locomotives for short distance goods and shunting duties. In the 1890s, traffic levels increased at a much higher rate, so Matthew Holmes had to design a new side tank locomotive. Forty NBR Class D locomotives (LNER J83) entered service in 1901 with twenty from Neilson, Reid & Co and Sharp, Stewart & Co.
Each member of the class was fitted with steam brakes. However, ten were converted to the Westinghouse brake system with vacuum ejectors fitted in 1916. After Grouping in 1923, LNER rebuilt the Class D locomotives into the LNER J83’s. During 1924 and 1925, entirely new boilers were fitted. Each dome was reduced in height by 9in with the old dome-mounted lock-up safety valves replaced by Ross pop safety valves that were mounted on the firebox. More new features included helical springs on the rear axles and enlarged front sand boxes.
Their main duties included the transfer of goods, heavy yard shunting, transporting minerals and banking. After Grouping, most of the J83’s main duties changed to shunting. By the time of BR nationalisation, one J83 had been withdrawn from service in 1947, leaving thirty-nine locomotives under BR ownership. In 1951, ten new boilers were constructed. As more diesel shunters were being introduced at this time, it was decided that members of the class would be withdrawn, with the last J83 withdrawn in 1962.
No. 8474 was ordered by North British Railway and constructed by Sharp, Stewart & Company in April 1901. Under NBR, its original running number was 827. After Grouping, LNER renumbered the engine to 9827 and then 8474. When finally transferred to BR ownership, the number changed again to 68474. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in April 1958.