No. 1218 was the ninth member of the second batch of fifteen class A locomotives (Nos. 1210–1224) built in June 1943 at the East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). It was initially assigned to haul fast freight and heavy coal trains and even heavy passenger trains on the N&W's Scioto Division, between Williamson, West Virginia and Portsmouth and Columbus, Ohio, along with an occasional side trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. In the late 1950s, No. 1218 was later moved to the Norfolk Division, running between Roanoke and Norfolk, Virginia. At that time, the N&W planned to donate at least five steam locomotives for preservation, but with no plans to spare a class A locomotive from the scrap line..
