4003 'Lode Star' entered service with the Great Western Railway in February 1907 and received the first of its modifications, the superheated boiler, in May 1911. The second major alteration took place in March 1949 when 'elbow' pattern outside steam pipes were fitted however just two years later, in July 1951, 4003 'Lode Star' was withdrawn from service while allocated to Landore.
 
Added to the National Collection, 'Lode Star' remained in storage at Swindon until 1962, when it was moved to Swindon Railway Museum as a static exhibit until 1 March 1992, when it was sent to the National Railway Museum in York. The locomotive has since been exhibited again in Swindon at STEAM, the Museum of the Great Western Railway and more recently back at the Railway Musuem in York.