Five of these were lost when the cargo ship carrying them was sunk during an attack by a German submarine; they were later replaced by construction of new locomotives.

It had a career pulling express passenger trains on the Paris-Chartres-Bordeaux, Paris-Niort, Paris-Saintes, Paris-Cherbourg, and Paris-Le Havre runs.

It ended its career on the run between Nantes and Le Croisic, and pulled its last train on 29 September 1968 when it was moved to Angers.

The engine was reviewed and received its timbre, a stamp showing the pressure of the boiler, on 28 November 1985 and was certified for mainline use on 30 May 1986.

In the summer of 2007, 231 G 558 could be found running daily on the branch line between Paimpol and Pontrieux in northern Brittany.