Chesapeake and Ohio Class L-2 and L-2a

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**C&O L-2a**
Power type	Steam
C&O L-2 #302 at Hinton, West Virginia, July 10, 1953.
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Build date	1941
Driver size	78 in (1.98 m)
Length	108 ft 0 in (32.92 m)
Weight on drivers	219,500 lb (100 metric tons)
Locomotive and tender combined weight	893,000 lb (381 metric tons)
Fuel capacity	60,000 lb (27 metric tons) coal
Water capacity	21,000 US gal (79,500 liters)
Boiler pressure	255 psi (1.76 MPa)
Fire grate area	90 ft² (8.4 m²)
Heating surface: Total	4,233 ft² (393 m²)
Superheater area	1,810 ft² (168 m²)
Cylinders	2
Cylinder size	25 in bore × 30 in stroke (635 mm × 762 mm)
Number in class	8
Number	300–307
Retired	1953
Disposition	all scrapped

**C&O L-2a**
Power type	Steam
C&O L-2a #310 at Charleston, West Virginia, June 26, 1951.
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Build date	1947
Number in class	5
Number	310–314

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's Class L-2 comprised eight coal-fired 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives numbered #300–307 and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1941. They had roller bearings on all axles, and the first-built, #300, had roller bearings on its side and main rods too. #300 also bore "Elephant ear" smoke deflectors from 1948.

In 1947, the C&O ordered five additional and very similar locomotives, numbering them #310–314; these were Class L-2a and differed mostly in using Franklin RC poppet valves instead of the Baker valve gear of the L-2s. These were the last express passenger steam locomotives ordered by a United States railroad, and some of the most expensive at $353,346 each, 80% more than the cost of the 8 earlier L-2 locomotives.^[1]

Both classes were among the largest 4-6-4s ever built. They were intended to work the C&O's top-flight express trains on level ground; the railroad purchased 4-8-4 "Greenbrier" types for mountain service.

By 1953, C&O passenger services were wholly dieselized, and there was no more work for these locomotives to do. Hudsons were very unsuited to freight work, with such a comparatively small proportion of their weight on the drivers. All were quickly scrapped.