(Koeniglich Preussischer Eisenbahn Verband)

History

In 1906, the ministry of railways ordered ten superheated 4-6-0 locomotives to be known as the P8. They were ordered so that their performance could be compared to the older P7 4 cylinder compound locomotives which were housed at the depots of Koeln and Elberfeld. Robert Gabe the head of the railway depot of Berlin, and chief engineer of the central railway administration wanted to demonstrate the superiority of superheated steam over saturated steam in the design of the P8.

Because of increasing train weights, the current passenger locomotives were unable to meet the required train schedules. The older P7 was obsolete, expensive to maintain, and only 18 were available. Clearly the new design was needed and success for Robert Gabe came with the P8. The weight of the P8 was slightly above the desired specifications so the maximum speed was 100km/hr. instead of 110km/hr. The good reputation of this design spread throughout Germany and soon led to orders from other German and foreign railways. By 1928 about 3800 P8's were built. The Prussian railways alone had 3370 units. More than 3000 P8's were eventually assigned to the German Reichsbahn and redesignated  BR38 (Baureihe 38).  After WWII the Bundesbahn continued using the P8 (now BR 38) and replaced the original smoke deflectors with those of the "Witte" design. The original tenders were replaced with the standard "tub tender". As late as 1968, about 300 units were still in service , most of them with the DR (Deutsche Reichsbahn) in East Germany.