## Description
### Steam Store Description
What was the most powerful steam locomotive ever built? The Big Boy?
What was the heaviest steam locomotive ever built? The Big Boy? …… Well,
maybe, maybe not.
In this session you will experience the power of the C&O 2-6-6-6 H8 Allegheny.
They are giving you control over this big boy and you will be making a large
coal run. The journey is not a short one so get ready to take the challenge of
hauling your freight from New River Mining all the way up to Hinton!
To find and place your new engine in Quick Drive or Surveyor, click on the
Trains tab and search for C&O 2-6-6-6 H8.
Read on for more information on the C&O 2-6-6-6 H8 Allegheny:
In the 1930s, the C&O improved its railroad by boring new tunnels and
enlarging others. The Class T-1 Texas type 2-10-4s also arrived in the early
1930s and seemed to be the choice for hauling its coal trains over the 80
miles of track from Hinton, WV east to Clifton Forge, VA. This run included a
13 mile .577% grade to the 2,072 foot summit of an Allegheny mountain and then
a descent down a 1.14% grade to Clifton Forge. Its 2-6-6-2s were getting old
and the 2-8-8-2s, delivered in the 1920s, (which used simple expansion because
of tight tunnel clearances) were not up to the task. On the brink of ordering
more 2-10-4s the C&O was approached by the Lima Locomotive Company with a new
and more powerful locomotive design.
This design was a six-coupled, single-expansion articulated with 67 diameter
drivers for speed, a 9 x 15 firebox with a very large boiler for steaming and
778,000 pounds of locomotive weight to assure tractive effort. The large fire
box was placed behind the drivers and required a six-wheel trailing truck to
support it. This gave the design a wheel arrangement of 2-6-6-6. With four
22.5 diameter x 33 stroke cylinders, a 260 psi boiler pressure and the 67
diameter drivers it could exert 110,200 pounds of tractive effort.
The C&O agreed and placed an order for ten of these 2-6-6-6 locomotives and
Lima delivered them in December, 1941. They were designated Class H-8 and
assigned road numbers 1600 through 1609. With a new wheel arrangement came a
new name. The C&O selected the name Allegheny for the mountain range that this
new locomotive would do its work. An article by King in Trains in the early
2000s stated that the C&O Alleghenies cost around $270,000.00 each.
The tenders for these new locomotives were of the largest type used on the
C&O, with a 25,000 gallon water tank and a 25 ton coal bunker. In order to
keep the overall length of the locomotive and tender within the limit that
existing turntables could handle it was necessary to make the rear section of
the tender higher, thus causing more weight to be at the rear than the front.
The tender had a six-wheel leading truck, but an eight-wheel trailing truck
was needed to carry the weight in the rear.
In operation, one Allegheny leading and one pushing could move a 140 car
loaded coal train up the mountain from the Hinton terminal. At the top the
pusher would be taken off, turned around and sent back to the Hinton terminal.
The single leading Allegheny could handle the decent down the mountain to
Clifton Forge where it would be turned around for a return trip with a train
of empty coal cars.
The C&O had 23 of its Alleghenies equipped with steam heat and signal lines
for passenger service, but they were used sparingly, pulling an occasional
heavy mail train or a troop train during World War II. The Allegheny may have
been the ultimate freight locomotive. They were able to achieve a very
impressive record even though they were used in a manner that didnt fit
perfectly with their design. The Allegheny boilers were capable of delivering
up to 8000 HP! This was far greater than any other reciprocating steam
locomotive could develop. However, the C&O used the H-8s in coal drag service
where they were unable to realize their full potential as high speed
locomotives. The C&O Alleghenies were designed to haul 5,000 tons at 45mph,
but unfortunately were used to haul trains of 10,000 or more tons at 15mph.
C&Os 2-6-6-6s were very impressive locomotives. However, they were never used
to their full potential. The Allegheny was truly magnificent in its role, but
as good as it was it could not win the battle with the diesel. The C&Os
Alleghenies were taken out of service beginning in 1952 with the last fire
dropped in 1956.
Trainz: C&O 2-6-6-6 H8 Allegheny