Bavarian P 3/5 H

The P 3/5 H was a passenger locomotive that was ordered by the Bavarian Group Administration shortly after the Reichsbahn was founded. Since there was no final class scheme at that time, the locomotives were given a Bavarian designation for the time being. In 1925 they became the class 38⁴, the 80 examples built were numbered 38 401 to 38 480.

The basis of the development was the P 3/5 N, which already had a four-cylinder compound engine, but was only designed to use saturated steam. The chassis was adopted almost unchanged, but slightly larger cylinders and a larger boiler with a superheater were installed. In addition, there was a more spacious cab, as was the state of the art at this time. Despite the same top speed, the power and economy increased, and a larger tender also further increased the range. So it turned out that these locomotives, which were actually only developed for normal passenger trains, were even used in front of express trains. From 1924 all surviving P 3/5 N were rebuilt to a superheated P 3/5 H.

Like their predecessors from Bavaria, all P 3/5 H received a green paint finish ex works. Although the repainting took place in 1925, not all locomotives could be repainted directly to the new color scheme. It was not until around 1930 that some were given the new black and red color scheme as part of a general inspection. Fortunately, all of the P 3/5 H survived the Second World War. After the end of the war, they were all on the territory of what later became the Bundesbahn, as they were mainly used in the Bavarian area. The rest of their life their working area didn't change either. The 38 432 was the last to be retired in 1955.