Chief Logan State Park, a couple of miles north of Logan in West Virginia, is home to Chesapeake & Ohio K-4 #2755. It is on display just past the intersection of Little Buffalo Creek Rd and Park Rt 801.
The first fourteen K-4s were built by Alco in 1943 (#2700-#2713). Twenty-six more were built in 1944 (#2714-#2739), and the railroad ordered another ten from Lima in 1945 (#2740-#2749) and ten more in 1947 (#2750-#2759), including #2755.
The K-4 was one of the most successful classes used on the C&O, operating over most of the system. The final order for thirty from Alco in 1947 (#2760-#2789) eventually brought the company's roster to ninety.
Above, CSX Transportation, successor to the C&O, and West Virginia Archives and History have placed a commemorative marker beside the locomotive. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
#275's engine weighs 468,900 lbs. Weight on the 69" drivers is 293,210 lbs. The cylinders are
26" x 34".
The locomotive has Baker valve gear and all engine axles were fitted with roller bearings. The trailing truck rear axles carry a booster engine to aid traction starting with heavy loads and on heavy grades.
With a 90 sq ft grate area, 462 sq ft firebox and total heating surface of 6,705 sq ft, including 1,932 sq ft superheating, #2755 operated at a boiler pressure of 245 psi delivering 69,368 lbs tractive effort. It spent much of its life working coal hauls in the Logan area, was retired in 1956 and went on display at the park in 1961.
The tender weighs 390,000 lbs light and has a capacity of 21,000 gallons of water and 30 tons of coal. It is a cast steel water bottom design fitted with two Buckeye Steel Casting Company six wheel tender truck sets
Twelve K-4 engines have been preserved.
You can see others on the B&O Museum Yard & Car Shop page of this website, on the
Kentucky Railway Museum, the National Museum of Transportation, St. Louis Train Sheds and National Railroad Museum pages.
