The development and construction of the locomotive was carried out in the Maschinenbauanstalt Übigau at Dresden, an engineering works that had been founded on 1 January 1837.

[citation needed] The first train to run on the railway was hauled by the two English locomotives Robert Stephenson and Elephant.

A flat plate on top of the vertical boiler provided a platform for the steam whistle and spring balance safety valve.

A technical innovation was the trailing axle which had been intended by Schubert mainly to improve the locomotive's riding qualities.

On 11 October 1985, a working group was established by the East German government's Ministry of Transport for the construction of a replica of the locomotive.

The aim was for its inaugural journey to form part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the first German long-distance railway from Leipzig to Dresden on 8 April 1989.

Originally the Saxonia only had a simple lever valve gear which did not enable any kind of steam admission control.

The manufacture of components was taken on by the Bahnbetriebswerke (Bw i.e. locomotive depot) at Dresden, Oebisfelde, Berlin-Pankow and Weissenfels as well as the refurbishment shop (Aufarbeitungswerkstatt) at Wilsdruff.

Trials with a replica buffer beam showed that a wooden construction of that nature had a strong tendency to crack.

On her handover journey on 12 January 1989 she even attained a speed of 70 km/h between Halle and Leipzig, as well as demonstrating smooth riding qualities and good steam generation.

On 8 April 1989 she led the impressive parade of locomotives at Riesa to celebrate the opening of the Germany's first long-distance railway.