Chesapeake and Ohio 2755

Chesapeake & Ohio 2755
Type and origin References: Power type Steam Builder Lima Locomotive Works Order number 1198 Serial number 9262 Build date January 1947
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-4 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 69 in (1,753 mm) Length 105.2 ft (32.1 m) Adhesive weight 292,000 lb (132.4 tonnes) Loco weight 460,000 lb (208.7 tonnes) Tender weight 388,000 lb (176.0 tonnes) Total weight 848,000 lb (384.6 tonnes) Tender type 21-RG Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 30 short tons (27.2 t) Water cap. 21,000 US gal (79,500 L) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 90 sq ft (8.4 m2) Boiler pressure 245 psi (1.69 MPa) Feedwater heater Worthington Type 5½ SSA Heating surface 4,714 sq ft (437.9 m2) Superheater Elesco Type E Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 26 in × 34 in (660 mm × 864 mm) Valve gear Baker
Performance figures Tractive effort 69,368 lbf (308.56 kN) Factor of adh. 4.23
Career Operators Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Class K-4 Number in class 56 of 90 Numbers 2755 Retired 1956 Current owner West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Disposition On static display Chesapeake and Ohio 2755 Steam Locomotive U.S. National Register of Historic Places Nearest city Henlawson, West Virginia Coordinates 37°53′34″N 82°0′34″W Area 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) Built 1947 Architect Lima Locomotive Works Architectural style K-4 Class Locomotive NRHP reference No. 06000900 Added to NRHP September 28, 2006

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.

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.