The locomotives were developed specially for the steep ramps in the K.Bay.Sts.B.'s territory: the railway line from Sonneberg–Probstzella, the Spessart ramp, the Franconian Forest Railway (Frankenwaldbahn), the Schiefe Ebene (lit: inclined plane), and the line from Eger to Asch (today Cheb-Aš).
The locomotives were stationed at the Nuremberg depot and mainly used between Nuremberg on Frankenwald and Probstzella in the DDR, as well as between Nuremberg and Regensburg.
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').
It is located at the southeastern edge of Probstzella and since 1 October 1885 it has been a through station on the Franconian Forest Railway.