After the bankrupt Grand Trunk Railway was absorbed into the Canadian National Railways in 1923 its lines in the United States came to be operated under two names: Grand Trunk in New England, and Grand Trunk Western in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Some classes of steam power were shared between these two U.S. components, including the forty members of the S-3-a class of 2-8-2s. Erected by American Locomotive Company's Schenectady works in 1918, the class followed the USRA light Mikado design, weighing in at 290,000 pounds. They mustered a tractive effort of 55,000 pounds based on cylinder dimensions of 36x30 inches, a 63-inch driver diameter, and a boiler pressure of 200 pounds per square inch. These "Mikes" had 67 square feet of grate area, an evaporative heating surface of 3783 square feet, and 882 square feet of superheating surface.

In an image provided by Tom Rock of T.D.R. Productions No. 3713, of the Grand Trunk Western, appears here at an unknown location perhaps near the end of its active service life. In 1956 the remaining members of the S-3-a class were renumbered into the 4000 series to make room for new diesels, but No. 3713 had apparently met its demise by that time and was not included in the renumbering.