Although the 0-4-4T wheel arrangement was mostly found on small Elevated railroad locomotives in the USA, there were also larger examples. The Chesapeake & Ohio received two from ALCO in Schenectady in 1889, which they designated as class B-1. With a service weight of 110,000 pounds and cylinders measuring 17 by 24 inches, they were significantly heavier than most Forneys. One locomotive was sold to J.T. Gardner and the second was scrapped in 1913. Later the class designation was used for new locomotives with a 2-10-2 wheel arrangement, which came to the C&O via the Hocking Valley.

When hauling the new steel passenger cars over the Allegheny Mountains, the class F-15 Pacific locomotives quickly reached their limits, so that the trains could not consist of more than six cars. As a remedy, a new type of locomotive was designed in which, compared to the Pacific, a fourth driving axle was added and the diameter of the wheels was slightly reduced in order to obtain more adhesive weight, to be able to install a larger boiler and to increase the tractive effort. Since this was the first locomotive with a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement in North America, the C&O gave the design the name “Mountain”.

Compared to the F-15, the tractive effort was almost doubled and the indicated power significantly increased. Ten steel cars with a total weight of around 600 tons could now be hauled over the Alleghenies without any problems. With this load, they could reach 25 mph at 2.52 percent, and even 70 mph were reached on the flat. However, a disadvantage of the smaller drivers and the special design of the Walschaerts valve gear was that the engines exerted a very high hammer blow on the rails. As a result, only three class J-1 locomotives remained and from then on significantly more powerful Pacific class F-16 and F-17 locomotives were procured for the same task.

During World War I, the J-1 had to haul heavy freight trains across the Alleghenies. After the end of the war, seven examples of the USRA Heavy Mountain were procured and designated class J-2. These put less strain on the rails with larger drivers and Baker valve gear and, due to the increased boiler output, were able to generate approximately the same pulling power.

In the 1920s, the J-1's valve gear was optimized with the help of new knowledge in order to reduce the known problems. In addition, the J-2s were soon fitted with Walschaerts valve gear and were then referred to as the J-2a. Two were built new and five USRA locomotives were rebuilt. In the 1930s and 1940s they were overtaken by the new J-3 and L-2 class locomotives, which initially led to the J-1 being phased out by 1948. Shortly thereafter, the C&O passenger trains were converted to diesel traction, which also meant that the J-2 was retired by 1952.

The F-16 class Pacifics were designed to haul express trains of 700 short tons over graded routes. They were similar in many respects to the ALCO No. 50,000, designated the Erie K-3 class, but were built by Baldwin. With a driver diameter of only 73 inches, they were well suited for the inclines. They were brought up to date over their service life, for example by installing a stoker. After the Second World War they could still be found in local traffic.

After various Mallets with the wheel arrangement 2-6-6-2, the C&O had the class H-7 built with the wheel arrangement 2-8-8-2. In 1923 and 1924, 25 H-7s were delivered by ALCO and in 1926 20 H-7a by Baldwin followed, which had a slightly higher adhesive weight. Since, unlike their predecessors, they worked with simple expansion, they were called “Simple Simons”.

By 1935 they received a boiler pressure of now 215 instead of 205 psi and thermic syphons. The 632 square foot firebox heating area now included 145 square feet from the combustion chamber and 165 from the thermic syphons. They could haul a 9,500 short tons freight train 113 miles in five hours.

They were replaced on the flatter lines by the class T-1 2-10-4s and on hilly lines by the 2-6-6-6 “Alleghenies”. 30 of the 45 locomotives were later leased to the Union Pacific. The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac also bought some locomotives.

For use in front of fast freight trains, the Pere Marquette also chose the 2-8-4 “Berkshire” wheel arrangement in the late 1930s. It was able to develop great power at speeds of up to 70 mph thanks to the large firebox above the bogie. Of a total of 466 square feet in the firebox, 122 were made up of thermosiphons and water pipes. This allowed 26 by 34 inch cylinders to be operated with 69 inch wheels.

The first delivery from 1937 included 15 class N locomotives. The last five of these had a booster in the bogie. In the years 1941 and 1944 twelve more N1 and N2 each followed. When the Pere Marquette was merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1947, the N1 and N2 classes became the N-1 and N-2 and the N class became the N-3. The two newer series, which had not yet been paid for by the C&O, kept the color scheme and the old numbers.

From 1951 the locomotives were also used on routes other than those originally operated by the Pere Marquette. The first series was scrapped by 1954. The use of the newer machines ended in 1958 and a total of 13 units were stored until 1961, as payments were still outstanding.

Numbers 1223 and 1225 are still preserved today, both of which belong to class N1. The 1225 is the only still functional Pere Marquette locomotive today. It has been used intermittently since 1985 and formed the basis for the locomotive in the book and film “The Polar Express”. Today it is used almost every year around Christmas time on the “North Pole Express” in Michigan.

In order to significantly increase speeds of heavy and fast freight trains, the C&O had the H-8 class developed by Lima. The inspiration came from the class A of the Norfolk & Western with the wheel arrangement 2-6-6-4. A three-axle trailing bogie ensured that an even larger firebox could be installed than on the existing locomotives. It was given relatively large drivers and steam heating so that it could pull passenger trains at 70 mph (113 km/h) if necessary.

The boiler was even larger than on the Big Boy and the locomotives were otherwise designed according to the latest standards. With an output of around 7,500 hp on the drawbar, the locomotives were among the most powerful steam locomotives ever. The installation of a booster in the bogie was rejected because even higher tractive forces were not required. There is some controversy regarding the actual weight of the H-8, as changes during development made it significantly heavier than originally planned. The first driving axle was loaded with 86,700 pounds or 39.3 t, which was the highest axle load of any steam locomotive.

The C&O named the wheel arrangement “Allegheny” after the mountain range that had to be overcome. Here two H-8 hauled up to 11,500 short tons. There they replaced the 2-8-8-2 class H-7 and enabled approximately twice the speed for heavy coal trains. On flatter routes they replaced the 2-10-4 T-1 class and could pull up to 13,500 short tons alone.

collection Taylor Rush

The first 45 H-8s were built during World War II, during which time they had to pull both urgent cargo and troop transports. The Virginian had eight AG class locomotives built in 1945, which were based on the H-8. In 1948 the C&O received another 15 H-8s, which were again similar to the AG. As early as 1952, the first H-8s were replaced by diesel locomotives. By 1956 they had all disappeared and today 1601 and 1604 remain preserved in static condition.

In order to be able to cope with the increase in fast freight trains caused by the war, the C&O had locomotives built with the wheel arrangement 2-8-4. While this wheel arrangement is commonly known as “Berkshire” in North America, the C&O named it “Kanawha” after a river in West Virginia. The engineers called them "Big Mikes". They shared many similarities with the Pere Marquette N class, but were slightly heavier overall and had a tender with a larger amount of coal. By 1947, a total of 90 had been built by ALCO and Lima. They all had a booster in the trailing truck. They were used not only for fast freight trains, but also for passenger trains. The first of these locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives as early as 1952, and by 1957 the last one had disappeared from active service. Twelve of these still exist today and number 2716 is being restored to working condition since 2019.

While other railroads switched from coal to diesel, the C&O refused to take this step for a while. Given their huge coal business, attempts were made to modernize the fleet while retaining coal as fuel. In 1948 and 1949, a total of three coal-fired steam turbine locomotives were built, which were the longest single-unit locomotives in the world and were nicknamed “Holy Cow”.

In the front part of the locomotives was the coal bunker, which fed the 6,000 hp turbine in the rear part of the locomotive. The water came from an additional tender. The eight traction motors were powered by the four generators, which together delivered 4,960 hp. With this system it was hoped that maintenance would be easier than with piston steam locomotives and the aim was to complete round trips of 1,000 miles without servicing stops.

The intended area of operation was the planned “Chessie” streamlined train. With a top speed of 100 mph (161 km/h) of the locomotives, this was to be hauled at a cruising speed of 70 mph (113 km/h). The M-1's fate finally came when they turned out to be very unreliable and the “Chessie” did not come into being. They were eventually used in other areas for only a short time and were scrapped in 1950.

In 1920, the Hocking Valley Railroad received 16 freight locomotives from the Lehigh Valley with a 2-10-2 wheel arrangement, which, with a driver diameter of 63 inches, were too slow for their requirements. The new operator gave the almost new locomotives the class designation F-1. A few years later, six went to the Pere Marquette. The Hocking Valley was taken over by the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1930 and those ten remaining locomotives got the class designation B-1, that had been carried by two Forneys until 1913. They got bigger tenders in 1940 and were used until 1952.

The class L-2 Hudsons of the Chesapeake & Ohio were 4-6-4 express locomotives introduced in 1942 to haul the fastest trains on level routes. They had to haul 15-car trains at 90 mph or 145 km/h. Trains on mountainous routes were already hauled by the “Greenbrier” 4-8-4 which had been introduced in 1935.

Their features included 78 inch (1,981 mm) drivers and a large 255 psi (17.6 bars) boiler with thermic syphons and an Elesco feed water heater. All axles of the locomotive and even the side rods had roller bearings. The Franklin type E booster was a special express variant that allowed operation up to 33 mph or 53 km/h.

The original class L-2 consisted of eight locomotives built in December 1941 and the following January. In 1948, five more of a revised design followed as L-2a. They had Franklin rotary cam poppet valves instead of piston valves and were the last steam express locomotives any US railroad purchased. After only a short career, they were scrapped in 1953.