The Egyptian State Railways switched to express locomotives with a leading bogie in 1901 with the class 16. The first ten machines of this type, which was clearly designed according to British principles, came from Neilson, Reid & Co. from Glasgow. There were also 15 examples from Henschel in Germany and ten from the StEG locomotive factory in Austria, which were virtually identical to the Scottish machines. Typical for locomotives used in Egypt was the driver's cab, which was only closed at the front, with ornaments on the roof.

As was common for most British steam locomotives of the time, the cylinders were in a slightly inclined position within the frame and below the smokebox. Here, for the first time in a production locomotive, the feedwater heater developed by Frederick Harvey Trevithick to save water was used. While the previous tests had been carried out with some voluminous attachments, the heater could now be accommodated in the smokebox. This already paved the way for the smokebox superheater.