The locomotive subsequently continued to pull freight trains for CN, until its last major class 3 overhaul was completed in Allendale, Ontario, and it was retired from revenue service in February 1958.

[1] After being stored for three years, the locomotive was sold in November 1961 to motel owner Willis F. Barron, who moved it to a Reading Company (RDG) station in Ashland, Pennsylvania.

3254 disassembled, moved via truck, and reassembled at his Ashland Court Motel for static display in front of a New Haven passenger coach.

[1] It was subsequently reassembled and restored to operating condition in 1985, and it began pulling excursion trains between Gettysburg and Mount Holly Springs.

It also participated in that year's National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) convention alongside Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad 2-8-0 No.

During its time at Gettysburg, however, the locomotive proved to be oversized and overpowered for the railroad's needs, so it only operated there for a year and a half until it was pulled from service and put into storage in 1986.

The early retirement is likely attributed due to its bent frame of its 1941 collision, it has frequently been described as a "rough rider," and had been chewing up bearings at an accelerated rate.

[5] As of 2023, the engine still remains on static display, with no plans on returning to service anytime soon, due to its poor condition and bent frame.

3254 was pulling the second section of CN’s Transcontinental passenger train out of New Westminster, British Columbia and onto a single-track line in the Brunette Valley at less than 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), and then at 9:42 am, it collided head-on with a Great Northern Railway (GN) passenger train, led by 4-6-2 locomotive No.

1351 crew, who were new to their jobs at the time, have accidentally caused the collision; they were ordered to stop at a siding to wait for the second section of the Transcontinental—No.

3254 and its tender jackknifed onto their sides, and the locomotive was severely damaged upon impact, with the cylinder blocks being ripped away from the frame and the piston rods being twisted upwards, and a wooden baggage car directly behind it was crushed.

[8] Many people arrived at the scene to help bring the injured passengers and crew to safety, and a second mainline was temporarily built to clear the wreckage.