As one of the last commercially built steam locomotives in the United States, the locomotive was built with the primary purpose of hauling long, heavy, high speed express passenger trains for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway such as the George Washington and the Fast Flying Virginian.

Between 1979 and 1980, restoration work on the locomotive to operating condition took place and it was used for extensive mainline excursion service from the early 1980s until the late 1990s.

614 was renumbered to 611, since there was a power shortage on the C&O as to alleviate any confusion with some leased 4-8-4s from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, one of which was also numbered 614.

614 was retired again and it was placed in storage with a group of other C&O steam locomotives in the form of a ‘scrap line’ in front of the C&O diesel shops in Russell, Kentucky where it remained for almost two decades.

The Chessie Safety Express was 614's first major run, bringing her a bit of spotlight in the process.

[citation needed] For several weeks in January and February 1985, 614 (now 614-T, symbolizing it as testing) hauled coal trains between Huntington and Hinton, West Virginia.

To give the public an idea of the train, one side of 614 was decorated in a futuristic way with a blue streamlined shrouding and centered headlight.

The resort owner had been interested in running steam-powered excursion trains from Greenbrier to Washington DC.

To be known as the "Greenbrier Express", Justice planned to use steam and diesel power in the project, but would have needed cooperation from CSX Transportation, the Buckingham Branch Railroad and Amtrak.

However, the Greenbrier Express project was cancelled in May 2012 due to lack of funding and capacity problems on the CSX portion of the route, where a lack of passing sidings makes it difficult for Eastbound trains to gain headway against the flow of Westbound empty coal trains.

On November 8, 2024, It was announced that C&O 614 was sold to RJD America of Denville, New Jersey, who will be restoring it to operating condition.