Class H-8 - 1600 (Locobase 304)

Data above from Locomotive Cyclopedia 1947, amended and corrected by C&O 4 -1947 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Built in several batches: 1600-1609 in 1941, 1610-1619 in 1942, and 1620-1644 in 1944. 1645-1659 in 1948. The 1948 locomotives -- 1645-1659 -- were copies of the Virginian's AGs (Locobase 421), which had less heating surface and were a bit lighter; see Locobase 11065.

Firebox had 3 syphons and arch tubes combining for 162 sq ft of heating surface as well as a huge combustion chamber. They could operate 11,500-ton coal trains at speeds up to 45 mph. Probably the heaviest 12-axle locomotives ever built, with certainly the highest axle load ever put on rails. Average axle load was 84,650 lb and the first driving axle bore 86,700 lb.

C&O Power gives higher weight on drivers (507,900 lb for the first batch, 504,010 lb for the 1948 engines), and heavier engine weights (771,300 lb and 751,830 lb, respectively.) The answer is that Cyclopedia weights were as designed, which specified 471,000 lb on the drivers, 724,500 engine. C&O Power weights came from C&O drawings.

Bob Quehl (EMail:rquehl@adelphia.net) from Pittsburgh, PA offered considerable detail on the difference as well as other information (http://www.worldrailfans.org/Forum/1998/Jan/2281650.shtmlon Feb 4 2000, 4:06) " In the December 1998 issue of Trains Magazine there is a very interesting article that suggests the first 10 H-8s delivered in December 1941 to January 1942 weighed actually weighed in the area of 775,330 lbs in "working order". This was just the engine weight including water in the boiler, 12,000 lbs of sand in the domes an a two man engine crew. This is interesting because the specifications for the order between the C&O and Lima called for a weight of 726,000 lbs."

Quehl implies that it was the Virginian's order of 8 in 1945 that finally exposed the disparity. "One engineer at Lima gave the H-8's weight as high as 778,200 lbs. For the engine and tender combined weight I have seen several references in other sources around 1,200,000 lbs." According to Huddleston, Lima later paid the C & O a $3 million penalty for missing the weight targets by so wide a margin.

There are many (including Eugene Huddleston and Thomas Dixon, Jr in their book Allegheny: Lima's Finest) who contend that C & O's oversight of the design by its Advisory Mechanical Committee contributed mightily to the problem. One example cited is 4 different changes to the design of the connecting rods, each of which made them heavier.

But did the C & O get what it paid for, whatever the cost in weight? It appears so, although the coal traffic they served didn't require the Challenger-like 67" drivers and massive tenders that this class deployed. To cope with an adverse grade of about 0.6%, the C & O would marshal 100 loaded coal cars, place one H-8 at the front and one at the rear and put the whole thing in motion. Once the train crested the summit, the pusher would drop off and the front H-8 would manage the train by itself.

23 were equipped for passenger operation, but if they were so used, it was to pull troop trains.

Class H-8 - 1644 (Locobase 11065)

Data above from Locomotive Cyclopedia 1947, amended and corrected by C&O 4 -1947 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

See Locobase 304 for comments on the serious weight miscalculation in the original H-8 design. When adding to the stud, the C & O adopted the smaller design sold to the Virginian in 1945 (Locobase 421). The big change from the 1941 Alleghenies was a 21% cut in the number of flues for the Type E superheater, which was only partially offset by an increase in the 2 1/4" tubes of 10.

Firebox had 3 syphons and arch tubes combining for 162 sq ft of heating surface as well as a huge combustion chamber. Could operate 11,500-ton coal trains at speeds up to 45 mph.