Revenue service years No. 700 was delivered on June 21, 1938, joining the 702 pulling overnight passenger trains between
Spokane and
Vancouver, Washington, along the north shore of the
Columbia River, with the No. 701 providing backup and pulling freight. Owing to an undersized
turntable, the Northerns didn't reach
Portland, Oregon until 1944. By 1947, the
Great Northern Railway had begun to streamline its premier passenger train, The
Empire Builder, and had started adding
diesels to the locomotive mix. SP&S also started purchasing diesels at this time, but they arrived after the streamlined cars were brought into service and for a few months, the 700s pulled the Portland section of Great Northern's
Empire Builder and Northern Pacific's
North Coast Limited. By 1960, No. 700 became one of only two SP&S steam locomotives left to survive, and the other locomotive is
2-8-2 No. 539, although 539 was originally built for the Northern Pacific Railway as their 1762. Locomotive 1762/539 is on display at the Port of Kalama Interpretive Center.
Display at Oaks Pioneer Park . For nearly 20 years the 700, along with other locomotives and other historic rail equipment, sat behind chain link fences, slowly fading and rusting away. It also was disguised as Northern Pacific #2668 (the next number available after the A-3's numbering class ended, which was 2660–2667) in 1992 for the Northern Pacific Rail Historical Society's convention, as the SP&S E-1 design is identical to the NP A-3 class, other than that the SP&S' Northerns burned oil, while the NP's burned coal.
Disposition and maintenance in 2013 Until June 2012, the No. 700 and its two companions resided at the Union Pacific Brooklyn Roundhouse. The City of Portland was leasing the roundhouse from its owner,
Union Pacific Railroad (UP), but after the railroad announced plans to demolish the
roundhouse to allow expansion of the
yard, the engines needed to find a new home. Construction of the new
Oregon Rail Heritage Center began in October 2011 and the 700 and the other two Portland-owned steam locomotives and other rail equipment was moved to the site of the new enginehouse and heritage center on June 26, 2012. at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in 2024 Maintenance of the 700 continues to be carried out by the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association and a team of volunteers. The locomotive was taken out of service in 2015 for its 1,472-day inspection as mandated by the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). although recent restrictions made by the
Oregon Pacific Railroad in 2022 may prevent the 700 from running on the railroad through to Oaks Park for the foreseeable future. ==Accidents==