Billinton was released from military service on 3 August 1919. Brighton Works was in the immediate post-war years working to full capacity just to clear the backlog of repairs to the locomotive stock. At this time Billinton introduced a top-feed arrangement inside a second dome on replacement boilers. The first new locomotives to be built postwar were seven of a batch of ten K class 2-6-0s, the first being finished in December 1920. Construction of the last three of the batch was cancelled by March 1921. These locomotives were used by Billinton to test various manufacturer's equipment, including feedwater heaters, blastpipes and sanding equipment.