what is it?
After the foundation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn the Bavarian Group Administration tasked the firm of Maffei with the construction of 80 locomotives of the Bavarian Class P 3/5 H. These machines were based on the Class P 3/5 N, but had a superheated steam boiler. Positive experience with these vehicles built in 1921 – they were even used on express train duties – led in 1924 to the rebuild of all available Class P 3/5 N engines into superheated steam locomotives. In 1925 the P 3/5 H were allocated the numbers 38 401 to 38 480 as part of the DRG Class 38.4.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 105 years ago, in 1921.
- Weighs about as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 34 years (1921–1955).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1921
- in service from
- 1921
- retired
- 1955
- status
- retired
- number built
- 80
- kind
- steam locomotive
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- builders
- Maffei
- operators
- Royal Bavarian State Railways, Deutsche Bundesbahn, Deutsche Reichsbahn
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-6-0
- weight
- 65.7 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1155057, Wikipedia: Bavarian P 3/5 H (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.