Locomotive 3801 and its classmates introduced a new era in train travel in New South Wales when they entered service from 1943. 

With the 4-6-2 or ‘Pacific’ wheel arrangement, the 38 class were faster and more powerful than their predecessors, and were able to haul more carriages while reducing travel times on express services.  

The 38 class were a particularly successful and reliable design. They were popular with railway management, with their drivers and with their firemen, whose work with the shovel was amply rewarded.  

The first five were built by Clyde Engineering to a semi-streamlined design. The 25 post-war locomotives in the class, built by the NSWGR at Eveleigh and Cardiff workshops between 1945 and 1949, dispensed with streamlining.

The 38 class engines averaged more than 135,000 km per annum in the early 1950s when they were used exclusively on express services; they were mainly withdrawn and replaced by diesels in the late 1960s.