Chesapeake and Ohio 2755

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 2755 is a standard gauge steam railway locomotive of the 2-8-4 type, called "Berkshire" by most US railroads, but "Kanawha" by the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O). It is one of a total of ninety built by ALCO (which built seventy) and Lima (which built the remaining twenty, including 2755) between 1943 and 1947.

Chesapeake & Ohio 2755
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderLima Locomotive Works
Order number1198
Serial number9262
Build dateJanuary 1947
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte2-8-4
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.69 in (1,753 mm)
Length105.2 ft (32.1 m)
Adhesive weight292,000 lb (132.4 tonnes)
Loco weight460,000 lb (208.7 tonnes)
Tender weight388,000 lb (176.0 tonnes)
Total weight848,000 lb (384.6 tonnes)
Tender type21-RG
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity30 short tons (27.2 t)
Water cap.21,000 US gal (79,500 L)
Firebox:
 • Grate area90 sq ft (8.4 m2)
Boiler pressure245 psi (1.69 MPa)
Feedwater heaterWorthington Type 5½ SSA
Heating surface4,714 sq ft (437.9 m2)
SuperheaterElesco Type E
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size26 in × 34 in (660 mm × 864 mm)
Valve gearBaker
Performance figures
Tractive effort69,368 lbf (308.56 kN)
Factor of adh.4.23
Career
OperatorsChesapeake and Ohio Railway
ClassK-4
Number in class56 of 90
Numbers2755
Retired1956
Current ownerWest Virginia Division of Natural Resources
DispositionOn static display
Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 Steam Locomotive
Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 is located in West Virginia
Chesapeake and Ohio 2755
Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 is located in the United States
Chesapeake and Ohio 2755
Nearest cityHenlawson, West Virginia
Coordinates37°53′34″N 82°0′34″W / 37.89278°N 82.00944°W / 37.89278; -82.00944
Area0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built1947
ArchitectLima Locomotive Works
Architectural styleK-4 Class Locomotive
NRHP reference No.06000900[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 2006

A Berkshire type was the first of the Lima Super Power locomotives in 1925 and these followed in that tradition, with all the latest equipment -- Schmidt superheater, Elesco feedwater heater, booster on the trailing truck, roller bearings, and so forth. They carried Baker valve gear, which the C&O preferred to the simpler and much more widely used Walschaerts valve gear.

It spent its nine-year working life hauling coal on the various mine branches out of Logan, West Virginia, usually to the Ohio River at Russell, Kentucky. Its last known run was from Handley, West Virginia, to Russell on January 18, 1956.

After refurbishing at the Huntington, West Virginia, shops in the fall of 1960, it was delivered to its present location in Chief Logan State Park in March 1961. It was seriously vandalized in the late 1970s or early 1980s, with the glass broken and gauges stolen or destroyed. It has been repaired and fenced for protection. The Island Creek Model Railroad Club acts as curators.

The locomotive was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 as Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 Steam Locomotive.[1][2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ Lambert, Thomas F. (December 16, 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 Steam Locomotive" (PDF). West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. National Park Service. Retrieved 4 October 2024.