It was primarily used for yard switching services, until 1946, when it was sold to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's E&G Brooke Plant as No.

In 2020, it was acquired by the Age of Steam Roundhouse, where it is on static display and awaiting a cosmetic restoration at their location in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

In the turn of the 20th century, the Philadelphia and Reading Company designed new classes of steam locomotives with the newly introduced wootten firebox to burn anthracite coal more easily, as well as to increase the tractive effort and economical reliability.

[2] 1187 was initially assigned for yard switching services in Reading to push and pull freight cars from one spot to another.

[3] The locomotive was subsequently able to pull longer strings of cars, and the amount of time it operated between refueling was increased.

4 was used by the SRC for the final time, as it was pulling a charter train to the Strasburg station for the Baltimore chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

1187 was moved back to the SRC yard, since the locomotive was beginning to deteriorate, and the RMOP felt it was no longer presentable for display.

1187 had been facing an uncertain future after spending several years being exposed to the outdoor elements, and the SRC made a decision to put the locomotive up for sale.