at the turn of the century, in what marked a major shift in policy, the recently-appointed vr commissioner, john mathieson, set up a locomotive design section for in-house development of future motive power. the d class locomotives were the first product of this exercise. a 4-6-0 design equipped with 5 ft 1 in driving wheels, saturated steam boiler and belpaire firebox, the d reflected the considerable talent of vr's design team, which included ex-beyer, peacock and company recruit eugene siepen, future vr chief mechanical engineer alfred smith, and rolling stock branch manager thomas woodroffe.