Since 1881, numerous narrow-gauge lines, some of them with many bends and inclines, had been opened in Saxony, and the volume of traffic had steadily increased.

At the beginning of the First World War, numerous locomotives of the classes I K and IV K were handed over to the Heeresfeldbahn, so the III K was again used on some routes alone in train service.

With the arrival of the first VI K and the return of the locomotives from war missions, however, the III K were no longer needed and only served as a reserve.

In contrast, the locomotives that had been delivered by Krauss to Bosnia were still in use on the Yugoslav Railways (JŽ) as class 189 until 1967, when they were no longer needed there due to the conversion of the lines to standard gauge.

The locomotives had two cylinders between the frames with external Stephenson valve gear, which drove the middle coupled axle.

The water supply was housed in side tanks, the coal in a bunker behind the driver's cab.

The III K had a long association with the narrow-gauge Wolkenstein–Jöhstadt railway line (the Preßnitztalbahn) in the Ore Mountains.