 The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (LD&ECR) was a line whose primary business was carrying coal from the mines in northern Derbyshire and northern Nottinghamshire to places such as Lincoln for onward shipment by other railways.Accordingly, the LD&ECR needed powerful locomotives capable of hauling these heavy trains.Since the line opened in 1895, the coal trains had been in the hands of the capable 0-6-2T locomotives of LD&ECR Class A, which eventually totalled 18; but after 1902, when the LD&ECR began to run their trains over the Great Central Railway (GCR) to Grimsby Docks, it became apparent that the Class A locomotives were too small for the long-distance trains; in particular, they needed to stop at for additional water.