When the Saxon 2-4-0 express locomotives were not powerful enough anymore, Hartmann delivered the first locomotive of the class VIII 2 in 1891. They were of the wheel arrangement 4-4-0 and in contrast to many contemporary express locomotives, they were no compounds. The cylinders were outside and the Allan valve gear was on the inside. From the start, only the second batch of ten had a Westinghouse brake while the first batch was later retrofitted.
18 of the 20 locomotives were named after European cities. One was named “Priestewitz”, while one got the name “Zweitausend” (“two thousand”) since it had also works number 2000 of Hartmann. The Prussian S 2, Erfurt type, that was built from 1892 was very similar to the VIII 2, although it had larger drivers. In Saxony, the VIII 2 was surpassed by the VIII V 1 as early as 1896 and was soon deployed in less important services. The Reichsbahn received twelve surviving locomotives, designated them class 1370 and retired the last ones in 1928.