Chesapeake & Ohio Mikados

By 1911, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway had developed a new locomotive to pull passenger trains over Allegheny Mountains -- the 4-8-2 "Mountains". The C&O also had a new design for its coal drag operations -- the 2-6-6-2 "Mallet". Now, in order to increase speed on the system, it needed a new freight locomotive for the lower grade portions of its railroad to replace the 2-8-0. The C&O turned to the American Locomotive Company to built it 2-8-2 "Mikado" type locomotives and between 1911 - 1914, 56 were delivered. This group was designated as Class K-1 and it was assigned road numbers 1100-1155.

Over the next few years many railroads were buying the "Mikado" type locomotives and many improvements were made to the design. By the mid 1920s the C&O decided that its motive power was becoming outdated and started acquiring new 2-8-2s. Between 1924 and 1926 it bought 150 new "Mikados" from ALCO in three separate classes. There were some differences between each of these classes including a different specification for tenders in each class.

Through acquisition and merger of motive power, there were several other classes of 2-8-2s on the C&O. Eleven ALCO built Class K, road numbers 1089-1099 came from Hocking Valley in 1930. These locomotives were similar to the C&O Class K-1. When the Pere Marquette became part of the C&O three new classes of "Mikados" were added to the roster. These new 2-8-2s were classes K-5, K-6 and K-8.

There are no surviving C&O 2-8-2 "Mikado" type locomotives.

Class	Qty.	Road Numbers	Year Built	Builder	Notes
K	11	1089-1099	1912-1913	ALCO	Came to the C&O in 1930 (Ex HV numbers 180-190)
K-1	56	1100-1155	1911-1914	ALCO	One was delivered in 1911, forty-nine were delivered in 1913 and six were delivered in 1914
K-2	50	1160-1209	1924	ALCO
K-3	50	1210-1259	1924	ALCO
K-3a	50	2300-2349	1925-1926	ALCO
K-5	10	1060-1069	1927	ALCO	Came to the C&O from the PM (Ex PM numbers 1041-1050)
K-6	5	1070-1074	1911-1913	Baldwin & ALCO	Came to the C&O from the PM (Ex PM numbers 1095-1099)
K-8	30	2350-2379	1918-1919	Lima & ALCO	Came to the C&O from the PM (Ex PM numbers 1011-1040)

Specifications
Class	K	K-1	K-2	K-3	K-3a	K-5	K-6	K-8
Wheel Arrangement:	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2	2-8-2
Length:	76'-4"	78-6 ½"	88'-3 ½"	97'-5"	97'-9"	93'-9"	92'-3"	92'-11 ½"
Drivers:	56" dia.	56" dia.	63" dia.	63" dia.	63" dia.	63" dia.	63" dia.	63" dia.
Weight on Drivers:	244,500 lbs.	242,000 lbs.	268,000 lbs.	271,000 lbs.	274,500 lbs.	230,500 lbs.	242,900 lbs.	220,000 lbs
Total Locomotive Weight:	322,500 lbs.	315,000 lbs.	358,000 lbs.	355,000 lbs.	359,000 lbs.	319,000 lbs.	328,600 lbs.	292,000 lbs.
Locomotive & Tender Weight:	511,400 lbs.	483,300 lbs.	577,100 lbs.	731,340 lbs.	659,000 lbs.	653,870 lbs.	673,780 lbs.	626,870 lbs.
Grate Area:	67.1 sq. ft.	67.1 sq. ft.	76.8 sq. ft.	80.8 sq. ft.	80.8 sq. ft.	66.7 sq. ft.	70.0 sq. ft.	66.7 sq. ft.
Cylinders (dia. x stroke):	(2) 29" x 28"	(2) 29" x 28"	(2) 28" x 30"	(2) 28" x 32"	(2) 28" x 32"	(2) 26" x 30"	(2) 27" x 32"	(2) 26" x 30"
Boiler Pressure:	185 psi	170 psi	200 psi	200 psi	200 psi	200 psi	190 psi	200 psi
Tractive Effort:	66,100 lbs.	60,800 lbs.	63,450 lbs.	67,700 lbs.	67,700 lbs.	54,700 lbs.	59,800 lbs.	54,700 lbs.
Tender Capacity:
Coal:	17 tons	15 tons	15 tons	25 tons	20 tons	25 tons	20 tons	25 tons.
Water:	9,000 gals.	9,000 gals.	12,000 gals.	21,000 gals.	16,000 gals.	19,000 gals.	22,000 gals.	19,000 gals.

Chesapeake & Ohio Mikados

Photos

Reference