On the Midland Railway, Johnson's first 'Compound' was introduced in 1902 and modified versions were produced by Deeley in 1905. The locos were originally classified as Class 4 but this was later changed to 4P, as their primary function was express and local passenger services. The LMS adopted the Midland 'Compound' as a standard design and building of them continued until 1927, further orders being cancelled by Stanier. Batches were built at Derby, Horwich, and by Vucan Foundry and the North British Locomotive Company. Much of their work was later taken over by the 'Jubilee' and 'Black 5' classes. The last 'Compound' was withdrawn in 1961.

The Hornby model arrived in 1981 along with three other 4-4-0 tender locomotive so that there was one for each of the Big Four pre-nationalisation companies. It seems that the model did not sell very well and certainly not as well as the other three. It was consequently the first to be dropped from the catalogue, after only seven years. Like all tender locomotives made at that time the 'Compound' had tender drive. It has now been reintroduced as a RailRoad model and has been converted to loco drive and DCC compatibility. The loco and tender now come joined as one, with a permanent DCC connection to the decoder socket in the tender. With the exception of one BR lined black one, all versions produced in its original form were of No.1000 (as built by Deeley) and in Crimson Lake livery. The same member of the class has been chosen again for the first of the converted models.