Book excerpt: This first volume on the LNER 4-4-0 locomotives describes the design, construction, history, operation and performance of the Great Northern, Great Central and Great Eastern examples, classified by the LNER at the Grouping as classes, D1 - D4, D5 - D12 and D13 - D16 respectively. It covers from their emergence in the late nineteenth century to their demise in the mid or late 1950s and their performance at their peak operation times, mainly in the inter-war years of LNER ownership. It also includes the former Midland & Great Northern Railway engines that were later absorbed by the LNER as classes D52 - D54.