The 200-05 locomotive was built in 1883 for Società Anonima Ferrovie del Ticino (Saronno–Malnate and Grandate-Malnate branches). It is considered the oldest in Europe after the “Licaon”, built in 1851 for the Austrian Kaiser-Ferdinands-Norbahn and currently owned by the Austrain federal railways. In 1879, some years after the incorporation of “Società Anonima delle Ferrovie Nord Milano-Saronno e Milano-Erba”, later called “Società Anonima delle Ferrovie Nord Milano” in 1883, these locomotives were used on the Saronno-Malnate and Grandate-Malnate branches that were still operated under concession by Società Anonima Ferrovie del Ticino.
Together with these, seven saturated steam locomotives were added to Ferrovie Nord’s rolling stock with the numbers from 200 to 206 already used by SFT on the same branches. They were equipped with a hand brake and an open driver’s cab. They were sold and/or demolished one after the other between 1932 and 1974, when the last unit of this 200-5 series was restored and became a FNM’s “Historical train” with 3 vehicles of late 1800,s.