The Gotland Railway opened its 57 km long line in 1878 with a gauge of 891 millimeters (2 feet 11 inches) and ordered three small tank locomotives from NoHAB in Trollhättän. An axle load of just over five tonnes had to suffice on the narrow-gauge railway. The locomotives were given the names “Wisby”, “Polhem” and “Gotland” and were completed shortly before the opening of the line.

One of the three engines was presented at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 and was NoHAB's first showpiece there. According to the Locomotive Magazine, apart from their Belpaire firebox, the locomotives were not distinguished by any special technical features, but by the high-quality execution of details. In addition to the successful execution of the valve gear, this also included a good weight balance thanks to the unevenly distributed wheelbases.

When the SJ took over operations on the Gotland Railway in 1948, the three locomotives were no longer used. Numbers 1 and 2 were then scrapped in 1952. Number 3 “Gotland” was donated to the Swedish Railway Museum in 1956 and has belonged to Gotlands Hesselby Jernväg since 1992.

Locomotive Magazine, December 1912

Under the impression of the Prussian P 8, the class A (II) Atlantic was developed into the B (II) with the wheel arrangement 4-6-0. The SJ had 96 locomotives built between 1909 and 1919. With the advancing electrification in the 1930s, some locomotives were sold to private railways, which later came back to the SJ after nationalization. The SVB (Stockholm-Västerås-Bergslagens Järnvägar) even had three more locomotives built in 1943 and 1944. The locomotives were retired by 1972 and kept as a strategic reserve until the 1990s. For this reason, many are still preserved today.