In terms of design, the locomotives were based on the class
T 5.1 of the
Prussian State Railways. Despite the defects that emerged, such as the uneven running at high speed, which led to derailments, 91 copies of this locomotive were procured from 1897 to 1909 in several lots. On Saxon routes it is not so much a high top speed that matters, but rather good acceleration due to the relatively short distance between the stops. The first locomotives were named after small towns in Saxony and were listed as
VIII bb T; in 1900 the designation was changed to IV T. Locomotive 1727 was the leading locomotive in the serious between Braunsdorf and Frankenberg on the
Roßwein–Niederwiesa railway line on 14 December 1913. The lead locomotive was repaired – hard to believe, if you look at the accident – but not until 1933 when it became DRG 71 322. The
Deutsche Reichsbahn took over 85 locomotives of this type and gave them the numbers 71 301 to 71 385. Six locomotives were taken out of service shortly before the re-designation; another wave of retirement followed around 1930. After
World War II, two locomotives remained with
ČSD, while ten locomotives came to the
Deutsche Reichsbahn. The locomotives were retired by the Deutsche Reichsbahn by 1955; none of them survived. == Technical features ==