 At this period, other railways often had to resort to using more than one engine to maintain a high top speed; the Great Northern (favoured with one of the best engine classes of the period – the Stirling 8-foot singles) prided itself on not doing so.As with all the other railways, though, it had considerable difficulties in stopping the trains rapidly once they were at speed.To stop a train, the driver could shut off steam, get his fireman to apply a handbrake on the tender and put the engine into reverse.