The term Neubaulokomotive or Neubaulok was chosen to distinguish these locomotives from the standard steam locomotives built by the pre-war Deutsche Reichsbahn in Germany, the so-called Einheitsdampflokomotiven or Einheitsloks.
The main differences were the welded plate frames instead of bar frames and more powerful boilers with combustion chambers. The locomotives which were newly developed by the Bundesbahn stand out visually from their Reichsbahn and former state railway (Länderbahnen) counterparts, particularly because of their shiny, silver-coloured boiler rings.