Power type Steam Total produced 8 UIC class 2′C2′ h2 | Build date 1941 Configuration 4-6-4 | |
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works | ||
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-2-A 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.