The ten P43 class 4-2-2s were the GER's contribution to the 'Indian Summer' of the single-wheeler, following the perfection of steam sanding apparatus. Their design was largely due to Frederick Russell, who became Head of the Locomotive Design Section of the Stratford Drawing Office in 1898. The design was totally non-standard, and clearly based upon the 4-2-2s of the Midland and the Great Western Railways, with double frames for the driving and carrying axles. The engines were oil burners, and the first to have the well-known 'watercart' type tenders.

The P43s did not last long on front-line express work, being displaced in 1901 by the new Claud Hamilton 4-4-0s. They were converted to coal burning, and their tenders exchanged with standard S23 tenders on ten of the T19 class 2-4-0s. They were then 'put out to grass' on the GN&GE Joint Line, and scrapped in 1907-1910.