#2737
Chesapeake and Ohio class K-4
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1943· class of 90 American 2-8-4 locomotives
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Chief Logan State Park - C&O 2755: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia )· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. C&O 2736 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay in September 1963: Marty Bernard· Public domain
what is it?
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's K-4 class were a group of ninety 2-8-4 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, Dennison Railroad Depot Museum, and the National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 83 years ago, in 1943.
- Weighs about as much as 35 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 32 m long: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 14 years (1943–1957).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1943–1947
- in service from
- 1943
- retired
- 1957
- status
- retired
- number built
- 90
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Locomotive Company, Lima Locomotive Works
- designer
- Advisory Mechanical Committee
- operators
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
- top speed
- 129 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2-8-4
- length
- 32 m
- weight
- 209 t
- nicknames
- Kanawha , Big Mike
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q30716321, Wikipedia: Chesapeake and Ohio class K-4 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.