ThePrussian Class G 2 was allocated by thePrussian state railways to a number of older,0-4-2 and0-6-0goods train locomotives which it had taken over from its predecessor railway companies. In addition it included a number ofPrussian G 3 engines of the type operated by the Frankfurt/M and Mainzrailway divisions. The best known was the standard G 2 type.
In 1888/89 theMarsch Railway (Marschbahn) inSchleswig-Holstein procured a total of eleven locomotives for mixed traffic on branch lines, which were an evolutionary development of an older locomotive class from 1875. The engines were described asscissors locomotives (Scherenlokomotiven) because the second axle was directly driven and the first axle coupled. That meant that theconnecting rods andcoupling rods looked as if they were sliding across one another like a pair of scissors. Thetrailing axle and low-pitchedfirebox gave the engine good riding qualities. The design also meant that the wheel guards (Radkästen) did not extend into the driver's cab and that the latter was protected from the vibration of a driven axle.
Because the class gave a good account of itself, thePrussian state railways procured another ten of these locomotives after the acquisition of theMarschbahn in 1890, of which two were deployed to the Magdeburg division and the remainder were stationed at Altona. TheEast Prussian Southern Railway, taken over by the Prussian state railways in 1903, also ordered 24 of these engines between 1890 and 1901, for which a template (Musterblatt) based onPrussian norms had been prepared. The locomotives were used in charge of goods trains as well as passenger services. As a result, they were allocated to various classes from 1905: The Altona engines were classified asG 2's, the Königsberg ones asP 2's and the Magdeburg locos asP 3's (later being reclassed as G 2's). TheDeutsche Reichsbahn took over about 30 locomotives, but they were then retired by 1923, so that they were never given Reichsbahn locomotive numbers.
The machines were coupled with Class 2 T 8 and 3 T 10.5tenders.
