The standard class 4 tank locomotive was developed to replace older tank locomotives for use with fast commuter and suburban trains. It was based on the LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T and had a similar driving wheel diameter of five feet eight inches. For a wider range of uses, the loading gauge was reduced by slightly rounding off the driver's cab and the water tanks. The smaller cylinders, which were compensated for with a higher boiler pressure, also contributed to this.

Most of the locomotives were made in Brighton, where a total of 130 were built. Another 15 were from Derby and ten from Doncaster. Another order for 15 locomotives was canceled in view of the dieselisation. The fact that only small detail changes were made to the locomotives during the period of operation shows that the design itself was successful. It also served as the basis for the standard class 4 4-6-0 tender locomotive. 

The locomotives were used almost all over the country. Only in the Western Region was the GWR's Large Prairie available in sufficient numbers to be able to dispense with the 2-6-4T. The first machine was scrapped in 1962 after it suffered a broken frame. Since older classes were phased out first, the 2-6-4T was only phased out between 1964 and 1967. A total of 15 have survived to this day, some of which are used regularly.

The class 66 tank locomotive was developed as one of the last new-build steam locomotives on the Bundesbahn, of which only two were built in 1955. In its basic design, it corresponded to the class 65, but was smaller and had one less coupled axle. In addition, it had a lower axle load for use on secondary lines and at the same time a larger coupling wheel diameter in order to still be able to reach 100 km/h. On the one hand, it was intended to replace old passenger locomotives such as the Prussian P 8 and T 18, but also freight locomotives such as the T 14. With a combustion chamber boiler, roller bearings and a direct-contact feed water heater, they corresponded to the current state of development. In addition, welding technology was consistently used in their production and the comfort of the crew was also taken into account when setting up the driver's cab.

Since the first mainline diesel locomotives suitable for operation on branch lines were ready for use at this time, no further units of the class 66 were built. The two existing engines were soon equipped with push-pull train controls and were mainly used for passenger transport. A third, almost identical locomotive was delivered to the Mülheim Ruhr Valley Railway in 1959. The Bundesbahn later took it over as road number 66 6006. The two examples originally built for the Bundesbahn were retired in 1967 and 1968 and today road number 66 002 can be viewed in the Bochum-Dahlhausen Railway Museum. In a contribution by Ulrich Budde in the forum “Drehscheibe Online” it is credibly described that the latter is actually 66 6006, which was subsequently given the other number.

In the 1910s the Great Central Railway needed new tank locomotives to serve coal traffic between the mining areas of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and the port at Immingham. Due to the good experiences with the class D of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, which had the wheel arrangement 0-6-4T, this was used as a basis.

It received a larger superheated boiler similar to that of the 4-4-0 class 11E. In order to be able to carry this, a leading axle was added. The result was the class 1B, which was the first standard gauge British 2-6-4T tank locomotive. With a coal capacity of 4.5 tons and 3,000 gallons of water, the supplies were not much smaller than most British tender locomotives. 

In everyday life it turned out that the frame was severely stressed by the position of the inside cylinders. In addition, the braking power was hardly sufficient for use with coal trains in the intended area. Since coal traffic there was ultimately declining, they were used in coal traffic in flatter areas. At the LNER they were first called class L1 and renamed L3 in 1945 due to another locomotive. 19 of the 20 came to British Railways and were withdrawn by 1955.

The LMS Fowler class 4P was the first in a series of 2-6-4T tank locomotives designed for long-distance commuter services. It was introduced in 1927 by Henry Fowler and formed the basis for derivatives by Stanier, Fairburn and Riddles. 125 of this class were build in Derby until 1934.

Their leading axle was of the same type as the one used on the Schenectady Moguls the Midland Railway received in 1899. They had a relatively high ratio of superheating and driving wheels of 5 ft 8 in which were good for speeds of 80 mph (129 km/h) and more. The last 30 locomotives built had more modern cabs with side windows and doors.

They were not only used for commuter trains, but also as bankers for passenger and goods trains on the Shap incline. They were withdrawn between 1959 and 1966 and none was preserved. In 2015, the LMS Patriot Project announced that they are planning to build a new member of this class when their No. 5551 “The Unknown Warrior” has been completed.

In his short career as Chief Mechanical Engineer at the LMS, Charles Fairburn designed only one steam locomotive. This was a direct development of Stanier's 2-6-4T, having a shorter rigid wheelbase to be able to negotiate tighter curves. This also led to a weight that was 3 tons 8 cwt lighter.

236 were built for the LMS and BR at Derby between 1945 and 1950. In 1950 and 1951, 41 more were built at Brighton for the Southern Region. They also formed the basis for the BR Standard class 4 tank. Withdrawals took place between 1961 and 1967 and two are surviving at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. As of 2024, 42073 is operational and 42085 is being overhauled.

When a powerful passenger train locomotive was needed for the Palatinate network, the main lines with many stops and turning points were considered, and so the decision was made in favor of a large tank locomotive. The locomotive developed as the Palatinate P 5 only achieved its greatest number of units after it was taken over by the Bavarian State Railways and is therefore primarily known under its Bavarian designation Pt 3/6.

The P 5 was the first 2-6-4 tank locomotive on the European mainland. The rear bogie was primarily used to carry the weight of the supplies and had the effect that as the amount of coal decreased, there was still almost the same weight on the coupled axles. The reserves in the first variant included 16 cubic meters of water and 5.2 tons of coal, which was more than in older, three-axle tenders. The three coupled axles were used to be able to carry a heavy boiler and have a high tractive power available.

Due to this arrangement, it had become necessary to bring the leading axle as close as possible to the first coupled axle. Therefore, an extremely unusual arrangement of the Krauss-Helmholtz bogie was used, in which the leading axle was connected to the second coupled axle instead of the first. In addition, the cylinders were arranged relatively high and inclined, since there was no longer enough space in the usual position.

The first production lot included twelve engines, which had been delivered in 1908 as the P 5 with saturated steam. After the takeover, the state railway procured another 29 units between 1911 and 1923, which were already running on superheated steam. The remaining engine were finally also equipped with a superheater in 1925. In comparison, the maximum train load of the saturated engines at two percent and 30 km/h was 140 tonnes, while this could be increased to 180 tonnes with superheater. 

At the Reichsbahn, the older engines were given the numbers 77 001 to 77 012, while the newer ones became 77 101 to 77 129. The engines procured for Bavaria continued to be used on the express route between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Munich, since these had similar characteristics to the routes for which the P 5 had originally been developed. Almost all of the locomotives of the newer series survived the Second World War, with only one eventually going to the Reichsbahn and the rest to the Bundesbahn, where they were used until 1956 and 1954 respectively. The nine remaining examples of the first series were sold to various private railways immediately after the war.

Although the FNM also operated an electrified suburban network around Milan, steam locomotives were needed for the more distant destinations. A tender locomotive was commissioned to speed up traffic, which should combine good acceleration with a maximum speed of 100 km/h. The order went to CEMSA, whose works in Saronno were located along the route of the FNM.

The four locomotives were apparently based on plans that came from Borsig. The 2-6-4T wheel arrangement was typical of modern passenger tank locomotives and combined good running characteristics with a large firebox and large supplies. The boiler delivered 1,060 hp permanently and 1,200 hp for short periods. The three cylinders, together with the 1,620 mm large coupled wheels, ensured good acceleration.

The locomotives were used to run direct connections from Milan to Como, Varese, Laveno, Erba and Asso. For some other routes, the axle load of 16.5 tonnes was too high. After the main routes had been electrified, these locomotives could not be used on the secondary routes. So they were retired in 1952 and scrapped shortly thereafter.