Chesapeake and Ohio class K-4


The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's K-4 class were a group of ninety steam locomotives purchased during and shortly after World War II. Unlike many other railroads in the United States, the C&O chose to nickname this class "Kanawha", after the river in West Virginia, rather than "Berkshire", after the region in New England.
As of 2024, twelve examples are preserved, with their display locations including the National Railroad Museum, the Science Museum of Virginia, Chief Logan State Park, and the B&O Railroad Museum.

Details

In the early 1940s, as the United States entered World War II, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was looking to roster large locomotives to aid their aging 2-8-2 "Mikados" in general freight service. The Advisory Mechanical Committee formulated a 2-8-4 design, named the K-4 class. The K-4s were reproduced from the AMC's previous designs for the Nickel Plate Road's 700 series 2-8-4s and the Pere Marquette Railway's 1200 series 2-8-4s, but the K-4s were equipped with boosters to increase their tractive effort, and their steam domes were positioned behind their sandboxes. The steam domes were positioned in front of the sandboxes for the NKP and PM 2-8-4s, since they allowed for efficient steam passages while traveling on level territories, but the design feature was prone to water-overflowing at the C&O's downhill grades in the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains.
Ninety K-4s, Nos. 2700-2789, were built between 1943 and 1947 by the American Locomotive Company and the Lima Locomotive Works. The K-4s were mostly assigned to heavy and high speed freight services throughout the north-eastern regions of the United States and part of Ontario, Canada by the Pere Marquette. The early K-4s were also used to haul passenger trains during World War II. The K-4s were considered to be one of the few recognizable 2-8-4 "Berkshire" classes in North America, since they were designed with their headlights below their smokeboxes and oval-shaped number plates on their smokebox doors. They were successful locomotives and were popular with crews, so popular with them that they referred to the locomotives as "Big Mikes".

Preserved Locomotives

Twelve Kanawhas have been preserved, with No. 2716 being restored to operation.
One Kanawha was on display in Buffalo, New York after retirement, but was vandalized beyond repair and was eventually scrapped a few months after being on display.