 With no prospect of further money being allocated by the Railway Executive for their completion, the unfinished locomotives were put into store at various depots around the former Southern Railway network pending a decision on their future.With a calculated tractive effort of 25350 lb the Leader came with the British Railways class 5 power band.This was considerably lower than the contemporary WC/BB pacifics which were rated as class 7, and this meant that the Leader had to be able to have an axle loading that would allow it to operate over secondary routes and on branch lines where the double-ended design would be of most benefit, something that was not likely with the weight inherent in the design.