Class 38 (Prussian P 8)

Updated: August 2026 – Hardly any German steam locomotive has seen as many stations as the Prussian P 8, listed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft as Class 38.10–40. Around 3,900 examples, built from 1906, in service into the 1970s. This page shows you how to identify it beyond doubt, why it carries two names, and how you can still encounter one of the preserved examples today.

What is Class 38, or the Prussian P 8?

Class 38 is a passenger tender locomotive with the 2’C wheel arrangement, designed in 1906 by Robert Garbe for the Prussian state railway. A total of around 3,900 examples were built – putting it among the most-built passenger steam locomotives in the world. It was rated for 100 km/h and worked with superheated-steam technology, which made it unusually economical for its time.

Operationally, the P 8 was the all-purpose tool of passenger service: local trains on branch lines, semi-fast trains on main lines, and freight duties when needed. Regular scheduled service ended in 1972 with the Deutsche Reichsbahn and in 1974 with the Deutsche Bundesbahn. What still runs under steam today are individually preserved museum examples, such as those held by the DGEG Railway Museum Bochum-Dahlhausen.

From class letter to class number

The double name P 8 / Class 38 is no accident, but a piece of administrative history. Until 1920 every locomotive belonged to a state railway – Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Baden and others each assigned their own class letters. On the Prussian state railway, P stood for passenger locomotive, G for freight locomotive, S for express locomotive and T for tank locomotive. The number after it was a running design number, not a performance figure.

With the founding of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, a unified scheme emerged from 1925 that assigned every design a class number:

Anyone who knows this pattern can also roughly place unfamiliar steam locomotive numbers. The basic approach to identifying vehicles is explained in the guide to identifying classes.

Where it fits into railway operations: what a 2’C passenger locomotive delivered

The design explains the deployment. Three coupled axles give enough tractive effort for medium-weight passenger trains, and the leading bogie allows higher speeds than a rigid leading axle. For heavy freight trains, though, it lacks adhesive weight – that’s what five-coupled classes were for.

Design feature	What it means	Consequence for deployment
Three coupled driving axles	moderate tractive effort, moderate axle load	passenger and semi-fast trains, even on weaker lines
Leading bogie (2’)	smooth running at higher speed	rated up to 100 km/h
No trailing axle	compact frame, limited firebox	sufficient for passenger trains, not for sustained maximum load
Tender	large coal and water supply	long runs without replenishing
Superheated-steam engine	better efficiency	economical in everyday service

This combination is why the P 8 lasted so long: it was best at nothing, but useful for almost everything. Equally versatile among the freight classes was the Prussian G 8.1 as Class 55, which applied the same principle to freight service.

How to find an operational P 8

The search doesn’t run through the timetable but through operators – from large museums to heritage railways such as the Hessencourrier. Three lines of research lead to the goal:

• Railway museums and heritage railways. Where a P 8 is based is usually listed on the relevant museum’s vehicle roster. Whether it’s operational is a separate question – far from all preserved examples are under steam.
• Event and special-train calendars. Large steam locomotives are announced for anniversaries, museum festivals and special trains. The guide to special trains and special services describes where these dates appear first.
• Historic sections on railway forums and community reports. The overview on researching historic railways shows how to draw reliable information from forum posts. It’s also worth checking live community sightings if you’re planning at short notice.

For the photo itself, steam locomotives follow their own logic: steam needs a dark background and cool air, the motion gear is more appealing with a slightly longer shutter speed than frozen solid, and the choice of vantage point matters more than the equipment. Details on this are in the guide on how to photograph steam trains.

One point that matters especially with the P 8: museum locomotives are regularly restored to a particular historical period, as shown for instance by the vehicles at the Bavarian Railway Museum in Leipzig. Because of this, the same locomotive can appear, depending on its restoration state, either as a Prussian P 8 with state-railway markings or as a Class 38 with Reichsbahn or Bundesbahn lettering. Anyone documenting a sighting should therefore note which lettering the vehicle actually carried – not the one given in an older book. It’s exactly this distinction that makes a photo placeable years later.

It’s also worth looking at the tender. Because tenders and locomotives were swapped repeatedly over the decades, the combination doesn’t always match the original as-delivered condition. That doesn’t matter for identifying the class – wheel arrangement and number decide that – but it does matter for clean documentation.

Common mix-ups

The most obvious mix-up is the Deutsche Reichsbahn’s Class 23.10: also three coupled axles, but with a single trailing axle at each end and a smooth, welded construction. With freight classes such as the Prussian G 10 as Class 57.10–35, the number of coupled axles settles it immediately.

Conclusion

The Prussian P 8 is the classic among German passenger steam locomotives – and, thanks to its clear wheel arrangement, one of the easiest to identify. Bogie at the front, three coupled axles, nothing behind them, number beginning with 38: that’s all it takes. That it carries two names is simply down to the switch from state-railway class letters to the Reichsbahn’s class scheme.