C&O 1308

Chesapeake & Ohio 1308
Power type	Steam
References[1][2]
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Order number	48001
Build date	1949
Total produced	9
Configuration	2-6-6-2
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Driver diameter	56 in (1,422 mm)
Wheelbase	48.8 ft (14.87 m)
Length	99.7 ft (30.39 m)
Weight on drivers	366,700 lb (166,332 kg)
Locomotive weight	434,900 lb (197,267 kg)
Tender weight	208,200 lb (94,438 kg)
Locomotive & tender combined weight	643,100 lb (291,705 kg)
Tender type	12-RC
Fuel type	Soft coal
Water capacity	12,000 US gal (45,425 l; 9,992 imp gal)
Tender capacity	16 short tons (15 t)
Boiler	96 in (2,438 mm)
Boiler pressure	210 psi (1.45 MPa)
Feedwater heater	none
Firegrate area	72 sq ft (6.7 m2)
Heating surface: Total	4,830 sq ft (449 m2)
Superheater type	Type A
Superheater area	991 sq ft (92.1 m2)
Cylinders	4
Front cylinder size	35 × 32 in (890 × 810 mm)
Rear cylinder size	22 × 32 in (560 × 810 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Tractive effort	98,700 lbf (439.04 kN)
Factor of adhesion	4.66
Locomotive brakes	Air
Train brakes	Air
Career	C&O
Class	H-6
Number	1308
Last run	February 29, 1956
Current owner	Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society, Inc.
Disposition	Static display
Chesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam Locomotive
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	1401 Memorial blvd., Huntington, West Virginia
Coordinates:	38°24′18.5″N 82°28′38″W / 38.405139°N 82.47722°W / 38.405139; -82.47722Coordinates: 38°24′18.5″N 82°28′38″W / 38.405139°N 82.47722°W / 38.405139; -82.47722
Area:	0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built:	1949
Architect:	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Architectural style:	H-6 Locomotive
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	02001571[3]
Added to NRHP:	January 31, 2003

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 1308 is a 2-6-6-2 Mallet articulated locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949. It was the next to the last Class 1 mainline locomotive built by Baldwin, closing out more than 100 years of production, a total of more the 70,000 locomotives. The last locomotive, its sister, 1309, is in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum.

While 1308 is a very modern locomotive, with roller bearings, mechanical lubricators, stoker, and superheater, it was the last of a series of 2-6-6-2s that the C&O began in 1911. A very similar design, the USRA 2-6-6-2 was chosen by the United States Railroad Administration as one of its standard designs thirty years earlier during World War I. The advantage of the design was that it could be used on the relatively light, tightly curved, branch lines in West Virginia and Kentucky coal country, and that's where it worked for its seven year working life, making the two hour run from Peach Creek, near Logan, West Virginia to the Ohio River at Russell, Kentucky with an occasional trip to Hinton, West Virginia.^[1] Its use in heavy mountain railroading is emphasized by its two cross compound air compressors mounted on the smokebox door to supply enough air for frequent heavy braking.

The class was unusual for the time in that they were true Mallets, since their steam was expanded once in their smaller rear cylinders and then a second time in their larger front cylinders. While compound locomotives are more efficient than single expansion, their extra complication led to very few United States railroads using them after the turn of the century.^[4] The C&O had a long history with Mallets and they were ideal for slow speed work in West Virginia.

After its last run on February 29, 1956, it was stored at Russell until the C&O gave it to the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society, Inc., a group founded in 1959.^[5] Collis P. Huntington is best known as one of the Big Four who built the Central Pacific Railroad from San Francisco to Promontory, Utah, but following that he spent at least ten years as a prime mover of the C&O. The town where 1308 sits is named for him.

The locomotive was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Chesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam Locomotive in 2003.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "NRHP Registration Form: Chesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam Locomotive". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/cabell/02001571.pdf. Retrieved 28 January 2010. 
2. ^ C. B. Peck, ed. 1950-52 Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice. New York: Simmons-Boardman. p. 518. 
3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
4. ^ C.B. Peck, ed. 1950-52 Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice. New York: Simmons-Boardman. pp. 500–538.  Of 102 locomotives listed in detail, only 2 were compound, the N&W Y6 and the C&O H-6.
5. ^ Casto, James E. (February, 2004). "Saved from the Scrap Yard". Wonderful West Virginia: 11–14. http://jimcasto.com/pages/pdfs/train.pdf.