It has been owned by the City of Portland since 1958,[2] and since mid-2012 it resides at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center where it can be viewed by the public.

197 was originally built as a four-cylinder compound (double expansion of the steam) locomotive with Stephenson valve gear, having the high-pressure cylinders located between the frames.

These high-pressure cylinders drove the second driving axle which was of a crank design, similar to an automotive crankshaft.

3203; at that time, the OR&N had been previously merged (in 1910) into by Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Union Pacific.

It was placed on display near Oaks Amusement Park on land the city purchased for a future transportation museum, then named "Oaks Pioneer Park", where it was soon joined by the larger and more powerful 4-8-4 "Northern" type locomotives Southern Pacific 4449 and Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700 and other historic railroad and interurban equipment.

Otherwise, it sat almost forgotten until late 1995, when a small group of individuals banded together to consider returning the locomotive to operation.

That day just happened to coincide with the height of severe flooding in the Portland area after a series of winter storms.

[3] After UP announced plans to close the Brooklyn Roundhouse, in order to expand the freight yard to facilitate increasing intermodal traffic, the non-profit Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation was formed to develop plans, and raise funds, to build a permanent home and restoration facility for Portland's three steam locomotives.

[6] In May 2023, it was announced that the ongoing restoration of Oregon Railroad & Navigation 197 got a major boost, in that a former Union Pacific executive would help raise the $1 million needed to get the 4-6-2 locomotive back under steam.

Over the last few years a number of significant projects have been completed, including the rebuilding of the locomotive’s air pump and fabrication of an all-new cab.