The SP (Standard Passenger) Class 4-4-0 was originally specified in a 1903 report, resulting in the first order dated 1904. A 1910 report was mainly devoted to further new designs, and repeated the SP specs for completeness. It should be pointed out that this class had a slightly smaller boiler than the 1920s/30s SPS class (Standard Passenger Superheated) rebuilds which looked (and were) more powerful, and had 3000 added to their numbers. No 3157 was originally built by Vulcan Foundry, Newton-Le-Willows as No 157 in 1911 and delivered in 1912

The engine was one of 11 ordered by North-Western Railway (NWR), a regional railway operated since 1905 by the Indian State Railway. The 11 engines were Progressive Order Nos 2759-2769. S/PS 3157 was Progressive Order No 2764, a broad gauge engine. Broad gauge measured 5 feet 6 inches between the rails and was favoured because it allowed the engineers designing the locomotives to build larger fire boxes and boilers, enabling the engines to pull longer and heavier loads, whilst at the same time being more stable on the railway tracks—especially useful in the mountainous regions of northwest India.