At the beginning of the 1890s, haulage of express trains on the Gotthard line was still separated. In the lowlands from Lucerne to Erstfeld the trains were hauled by light tank locomotives and in the mountains freight locomotives took over. In order to accelerate these trains, new locomotives were needed that combined sufficient tractive power with a higher maximum speed, thus making locomotive changes and double heading superfluous. The requirements were to move an express train of 140 tonnes alone on the mountain and 250 tonnes on the flat.

In order to enable sufficient tractive effort and, at the same time, good curve running, the locomotive was given three driving axles and a leading bogie, which made it the first locomotive of this wheel arrangement in Switzerland. A driving wheel diameter of 1,610 mm represented a good compromise for the required performance. For smoother running, coil springs were used instead of leaf springs, which were later replaced with leaf springs.

The first prototype with the number 201 was built with a three-cylinder compound engine. In order to develop a higher tractive force on the mountain, also the low-pressure cylinders could be supplied permanently with live steam. In the 202, a four-cylinder compound engine according to De Glehn was used, which also worked in compound on the mountain.

For the 28 production locomotives, the arrangement with four cylinders was chosen because it ran more smoothly and was more economical on the mountain line. Compared to the 202, the cylinders were enlarged while the boiler pressure was increased from 14 to 15 bars. The high-pressure cylinders acted on the first and the low-pressure cylinders on the second driving axle. A slightly smaller boiler was installed in the last six locomotives from number 225 onwards. These locomotives were later retrofitted with a superheater. 

The locomotives could haul a 320-tonne express train on the flat at 50 km/h. A load of 140 tonnes was initially planned for the climb at 40 km/h, which was later reduced to 120 tonnes to reduce fuel consumption. Likewise, the tender was enlarged from a water capacity of 14.4 to 17 cubic metres. When the Gotthard Railway was nationalized in 1909, the SBB numbered the locomotives 901 to 930. After the line was electrified in 1920 and these locomotives were slower than later type A 3/5 locomotives, they were retired between 1923 and 1926.

After the first type A 3/5 express locomotives, the Gotthardbahn had Maffei develop another variant of this type in 1908. Although it was primarily intended for use on the company's valley lines, it was also intended to pull lighter trains on the mountain lines and, like its predecessors, was therefore given relatively small wheels with a diameter of 1,610 mm. Maffei used the basic construction of the Bavarian P 3/5 as a basis.

Thus, the locomotives had a bar frame and a long, narrow firebox that lay between the wheels of the second and third coupled axle. The roof of the firebox sloped backwards so that it was always sufficiently covered with water when running downhill on the 2.7 percent mountain grade. To increase efficiency, a Crawford-Clench steam dryer was used, which was replaced by the Schmidt smoke tube superheater from 1913 onwards.

The dimensions of the cylinders and parts of the valve gear corresponded to the type C 4/5 freight locomotive also supplied by Maffei in 1906 in order to reduce the number of spare parts to be kept on hand. All cylinders acted on the first coupled axle according to the Von Borries design. A piston valve was used on each side, which simultaneously controlled one high- and one low-pressure cylinder. While this arrangement was efficient, over time it resulted in damage to the valve gear.

Maffei delivered four locomotives, four more were delivered by SLM in Winterthur in the same year. On the valley lines, they could transport 350-tonne trains at one percent at 60 km/h, and at 2.7 percent on the mountain line, it was still 150 tonnes at 40 km/h. The Gotthard railway was nationalized as early as 1909, so that the locomotives were now operated by the SBB. After the Gotthard Railway was electrified, it was scrapped as early as 1925.

The Ec 3/3 was ordered when the shunting duties in large stations and yards grew. Numbers 301 to 306 were delivered by SLM in 1897, followed by 307 to 312 in 1901. With a service weight of 42.7 tonnes, they were the heaviest shunting locomotives in Switzerland at that time. They had drivers of 1,230 mm and cylinders which measured 380 mm in diameter and 600 mm in stroke. Their water tanks had a capacity of 4.5 tonnes and were sloped at the front to increase visibility. Although not designed for line service, they had an air brake and were equipped for steam heating.

When the 2-6-0 wheel arrangement was not yet widespread in Europe, the Gotthard Railway had eight tank locomotives with this wheel arrangement built in Esslingen. They were to be used to pull passenger and express trains on the mountain route and also to pull freight trains in the lowlands. Four more followed in 1883 from the SLM. These differed from the first eight by the coal bunker, which was behind the cab. Upon the nationalization in 1909, all came to the SBB. They were retired between 1914 and 1933.

The challenges for locomotives on the Gotthard railway were not only the incline of 2.7 percent, but also the spiral tunnels with a radius of 300 meters. This required a high tractive force and at the same time made the adhesion conditions more difficult. In order to be able to dispense with the previously necessary one or two helper locomotives per train, eight-coupled locomotives or those with articulated chassis should be procured. In 1890 Maffei of Munich delivered locomotive number 151 to test the Mallet design.

The tank locomotive had six coupled axles and no carrying axles and was therefore given the type designation Ed 2x3/3. All cylinders acted on the third coupled axle of each group. Due to the short distance between the wheels, only the first and last axle of each running gear group could be braked from the outside, otherwise there would have been no space for the brake pads between the wheels. Since enough space had to be planned for the water tanks on the sides of the boiler, the boiler turned out to be relatively small for a locomotive with a service weight of 87 tonnes.

Since a high steaming capacity was required for the long, continuous incline, the Ed 2x3/3 quickly reached its limits. Although the locomotive offered sufficient traction and was able to convert a lot of power, the boiler was too small in comparison. Calling up full power for a short time was also difficult because the maximum coupler force could be exceeded. Thus the maximum train weight of the Ed 2x3/3 on the Gotthard railway was only 200 tonnes, while the existing D 4/4 could pull 175 tonnes. The Mallet thus remained a one-off while further, reinforced batches of the D 4/4 were purchased.

As the designation suggests, the A 3/5 was a type of express locomotive with five axles in total, of which three were powered. It was ordered after the 4-4-0 of the type A 2/4 had become too weak for heavier and heavier express trains. So it became a 4-6-0, since the third driving axle allowed for a higher adhesive weight and a bigger boiler. In place of the old two-cylinder cross compound, the new locomotive was a four-cylinder De Glehn compound. Its basis was the A 3/5 series 201 to 230 of the Gotthard Railway, but the drivers were enlarged from 1,610 to 1,780 mm for higher speeds and the firebox had been made larger.

Typically for the De Glehn design, the two high-pressure cylinders were mounted on the outside behind the bogie, while the two low-pressure cylinders could be found on the inside below the smokebox. Only the first two, numbered 701 and 702, were delivered to the JS before it became part of the SBB. The state railway ordered 107 more of this design, which were numbered 703 to 809. The wheelbase of these had been increased by 250 mm to accommodate a longer firebox. 

In parallel to the saturated four-cylinder De Glehn compound, two prototypes each were built from three modified designs. Numbers 501 and 502 were saturated three-cylinder simples, where all three cylinders were mounted below the smokebox and drove the first set of drivers. 601 and 602 were superheated four-cylinder Von Borries compounds with the large low-pressure cylinders on the outside. 651 and 652 were saturated four-cylinder De Glehn compounds like the basic variant, but had a Brotan boiler.

By 1909, a total of 115 were built, including the six prototypes. For further orders, the SBB chose the 601 and 602 prototypes and got 47 more between 1910 and 1915, numbered 603 to 649. These could be distinguished from the original locomotives by the arrangement of the high and low-pressure cylinders. From the series 701 to 809, 68 were superheated between 1913 and 1923. 22 got a 21-element superheater with 37.6 m² of surface and the other 46 got one with 24 elements and 46.2 m². Most were already withdrawn in the late twenties or early thirties due to the electrification of more and more lines, but some saw service into the fifties. Only 705 was preserved by SBB Historic and is still in working condition.

Between 1896 and 1902, the Jura-Simplon Railway got 75 2-6-0 locomotives for mixed traffic which had been built by the SLM. They were three-cylinder compounds where the single inside high-pressure cylinder drove the first driving axle and the two outside low-pressure cylinders drove the second driving axle. With a top speed of 75 km/h they also had to haul express trains in the mountains, but this task was taken over by the A 3/5 when this was introduced in 1902. After the founding of the SBB, 72 more were built between 1902 and 1907 which were nearly identical.

As early as in 1905, superheater technology was introduced with a modified design that had two cylinders with simple expansion and a boiler pressure that had been reduced from 14 to 12 bars. Most of the saturated compounds were retired starting in 1923 when electrification in Switzerland had been progressed. Only five which had been part of the war reserve were sold to the Netherlands in 1945 and became NS series 3000. Only a few of the superheated locomotives had been retired in the thirties, most followed in the fourties and fifties. The last one was No. 1367, which was retired in 1964 and is the only one that was preserved and still operational today.

Starting in 1898, the Swiss North Eastern Railway got 25 4-4-0 express locomotives from the SLM. They were called A 2/4 and were two-cylinder compounds. Being the only inside-cylinder locomotives of the NOB, their designers hoped to get smoother running characteristics. The Walschaerts valve gear was located on the outside.

On flat lines, they were usually used in trains of 300 to 600 tonnes and 200 to 240 tonnes on 1.2 percent. After the NOB became part of the SBB in 1902, the SBB ordered 25 more. The newer locomotives had a steam and a sand dome, while the earlier ones didn't have any domes. Only the three oldest were retired in 1917, all others followed in 1925.

In 1861, Escher Wyss delivered two freight locomotives of the later type D 2/2 to the North East Railway. Two years later, Esslingen delivered four more of the same design to the NOB's subsidiary Zurich-Zug-Lucerne Railway. These locomotives had outside frames, outside cylinders and inside Gooch valve gear.

They had two driving axles which carried a total weight of 26 tonnes, was was a high axle loading for that time. Additionally, the Beugniot type tender had to carry six tonnes of the locomotive's weight. Due to the short wheelbase of the two driving axles and the absence of guiding axles on the locomotive itself, they tended to nod at higher speeds, what led to the limitation of the top speed to 40 km/h. Nevertheless, they were powerful and were only withdrawn in 1876 and 1878.

These freight locomotives were built according to the Longboiler or “Bourbonnais” design, i.e. as a six-coupled with large overhangs both at the front and rear. A first series of 16 locomotives was built between 1891 and 1895 and a second of 24 locomotives from 1897 to 1902. The locomotives of the second series had compound engines and the last machines were delivered directly to the SBB. After the First World War, eight came to MÁV. The SBB parted with the last machines by the end of the 1920s.