64744 was built at Darlington in July 1928 and was originally numbered 2691 in LNER service. It was withdrawn in March 1962.

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, the J39 was introduced in 1926. It became the new LNER group standard 0-6-0 goods locomotive and over 15 years a total of 289 were produced. The J39s were powerful and versatile and, although primarily designed to haul freight trains, they were used from time to time on passenger routes as well. In 1948, following the nationalisation of the railways, all the J39s passed into British Railways ownership. They continued in service until 1959 when a fairly rapid programme of withdrawal commenced and by the end of 1962 the entire production had ceased operations. None have survived into preservation.