AHM 5061D C&O Class K4 "Kanawha" 2-8-4 Berkshire Locomotive #2786

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad began with the merger of the Virginia Central and the Covington & Ohio Railroads. It later acquired the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad, the Pere Marquette and the B&O. By 1987 when it was taken over by CSX it also had incorporated the Western Maryland Railroad.

During World War II, the C&O turned to the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement to handle the fast freight schedule demanded by the wartime needs. The C & O had watched the development of the 2-8-4 on the Nickel Plate Road and the Pere Marquette through the "Advisory Mechanical Committee" which was common to the four railroads controlled by the Van Sweringens. It based its 2-8-4 design on the NKP and Pere Marquette "Berkshires". However, it chose to name them "Kanawhas" after the Kanawha River, which paralleled its main line.

Between 1943 and 1947, the C & O purchased ninety, Class K-4, 2-8-4 "Kanawhas", twenty from the Lima Locomotive Works and seventy from the American Locomotive Company. These locomotives were numbered 2700 through 2789. All of these locomotives had 69" diameter drivers, 26" x 34" cylinders, a 245-psi boiler pressure, they exerted 69,350 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed about 292,500 pounds. (From Steamlocomotive.com)

The final group of Chesapeake & Ohio "Kanawhas" came off the American Locomotive Company erecting floor in 1947; No. 2786 posed at the ALCO plant in Schenectady, New York, to represent the class in this builder's photo.

FEATURES:

• Superb C-9 Mint+ Condition with Mint Box. A finer example of this great loco doesn't exist.
• Little or no evidence of run time..
• MRRHQ Locomotive Works serviced, tested and certified.
• Upgraded with MRRHQ Custom High Performance Dual Operating Headlamps.
• Upgraded with Factory Quality MRRHQ Custom Directional LED Tender Back-up Light w/Plastic Lens.
• One-piece boilers, engine covers, cabs and tenders of pressure-cast high impact plastic.
• Steel main and side rods.
• Steel handrails and coupler release bars on both loco and tender.
• Many additional fine details.
• Powerful can motor.
• Scale 69" Drivers.
• Easy rolling steel needle point truck axles.
• Upgraded with rear Knuckle Coupler.
• Optional Upgrades Available:
  • TCS MC2-KAC Standard DCC Decoder Installed.
  • TCS MC2-KAC Standard DCC Decoder w/KA4 Keep Alive Installed.
  • TCS WOWSound 101 DCC/Sound Decoder Installed.
  • TCS WOWSound 101KA DCC/Sound Decoder w/Keep Alive Installed.
• Made in Italy. Production Year 1980.

HO Scale 1:87