Their areas of operations included the Sonneberg–Probstzella line, the Spessart ramp, the Franconian Forest Railway, the Geislingen ramp (Geislinger Steige), the Schiefe Ebene and the Rübeland Railway, where they earned their nickname Bergkönigin ('mountain queen').
The 44 engines of this class built by the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen between 1917 and 1924 were intended for work on the Geislingen ramp (Geislinger Steige) and the Baden Black Forest line.