Peter Kerslake says "Introduced in 1895 the first of the "Duke" class had heralded the way for forty of the class to emerge from Swindon during the next two years, the class having been intended to replace the "Achilles" singles which had not been able to tackle the South Devon banks west of Newton Abbot.
The "Dukes" were accordingly able to work down over the banks to Plymouth and beyond into Cornwall, which they did until the "Bulldogs" came along in 1898 and "Duke" 3270 seen here at Swindon Works in 1936 has had what was referred to as a "Sole and Heel " overhaul with just its front end repainted indicating that its boiler had not been lifted from the engine's frames during this visit to the Works.
The year of this view is shown as 1936 which was the year when twenty of what became known as "Dukedogs" were constructed by Mr. Collett at Swindon matching boilers, cabs and fittings from condemned members of the "Duke" class with frames from the same number of similarly withdrawn "Bulldogs."