Chesapeake & Ohio No. 614 is a J-3a class 4-8-4 "Greenbrier" (Northern) type steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, OH in June 1948.
C&O No. 614-T (1985)
History[]
In June of 1948, Chesapeake & Ohio #614 was built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Ohio. The C&O called their 4-8-4s Northerns 'Greenbriers'. In total 12 Greenbriers were constructed, numbered #600-606, 610-614. These 4-8-4 locomotives were of the J-3 class. Due to increasing traffic, the C&O leased eleven RF&P (Richmond, Fredricksburg & Potamac) 4-8-4 locomotives, numbered #613-622. C&O #614's number had to be changed to #611, since RF&P #614 had the same number. The same year, C&O retired the '611' and remaining J-3s, along with the RF&P 4-8-4s. The #614, still numbered as #611, was later moved to Russel, Kentucky, for storage.
Design[]
614 is installed with:
- Nathan 4000 injectors for one lever operation.
- A Franklin booster engine.
- A feed water heater (used to be installed but has been removed)
- Tandem coupling rods
Restoration in 1980 and further[]
The C&O #614 sat on the storage track along with some other C&O steam sisters. One of them was the sole surviving C&O 2-8-2 locomotive. 614's fate would have likely ended up like the 2-8-2, scrapped, along with the other steam locomotives on the storage line. However, #614 was donated, along with a Mallet 2-6-6-2 and Kanawha 2-8-4, to the B&ORRM in Baltimore, Maryland. It wasn't until 1979 when the 614 had a chance to operate again.
The Reading #2101, which the Chessie System had leased from Ross E. Rowland Jr, was stored in a roundhouse at Silver Grove, Kentucky, waiting to be fired up for the 3rd season of the Chessie Steam Special. But a fire in March 1979 destroyed the roundhouse, and 2101's operating career. The Chessie System accepted sole responsible for this, so they donated $1,000,000 to Ross Rowland in order to buy & restore a new steam locomotive. He chose #614, for it's size and running capacity. In 1980, C&O #614 was restored by Ross and his crew. The coal capacity of the original tender was expanded at the cost of water capacity which was made up for by an auxiliary water tender. This was done partly to increase it's range to eliminate down time and compensate for the removal of refueling infrastructure. In 1980, Hays T. Watkins, CEO of the Chessie System at that time, wanted to spread awareness of grade crossing safety and Operation Lifesaver. However, the message of Operation Lifesaver in 1980 and 1981 got lost as the public was more interested in the 614 then the Operation Lifesaver itself. Since 1982, the Operation Lifesaver program has been run with diesels.
In January 1985, the 614 ran test runs as 614-T to generate publicity and empirical data for the ACE 3000. The ACE 3000 was a conceptual design for a modern steam locomotive including tons of experimental features to make it's function in operation as close to a diesel as possible. It was expected to have a thermal efficiency of 14.9%, more than 3 times that of 614 which is around 4%. The 614-T ran on the Charleston, West Virginia trackage of the Chessie System to prove that steam locomotives could perform outstandingly on modern railroads. She hauled large loaded coal trains, and was fitted with two auxiliary water tenders plus her main tender. The capacity of all 3 tenders combined was 50 tons of coal and 70k gallons of water. The typical coal loads were 40 fully loaded hoppers eastbound and 100 empties westbound. During one January winter day, all of the diesels between Hinton and Huntingdon WV were frozen and 614 was the only locomotive able to run. The engine headed to Hagerstown, MD towing the Amtrak's Cardinal Express since the assigned EMD F40PH froze up. The ACE 3000 was shortly after cancelled due to the Chessie System withdrawing their partnership, dying public interest, and oil prices dropping.
The C&O #614's next well known venture were the NJ Transit excursions in New Jersey in the 1990's from Hoboken to Port Jervis. C&O 614 personnel did early test runs of the engine with NJ Transit personnel so they could learn the route. During her first passenger test run from Hoboken to Port Jervis and return, C&O 614 was carrying VIPs and other important guests until the return journey resulted in a problem happening on the locomotive as the check valve was faulty preventing water flow from the auxiliary tender to the main tender. The engine had to be towed back home by NJ Transit diesels who were following in front of the engine from a distance. Afterwards the check valve was fixed and the Erie Limited excursions ran without any further problems. After the New Jersey excursions, #614 was slated to haul the 21st Century Limited, a train Ross Rowland envisioned to show the technology advances and more of the new 21st century. Sadly this was not to be, and some time after that, #614 was stored on a siding at the New Hope & Ivyland and was later placed on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. In 2012, #614 was moved to the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia. There, she was cosmetically restored in the colors of the Greenbrier Presidential Express, a proposed project by Rowland but was cancelled due to financial troubles. Today, #614 still sits there, along with its water auxiliary tender.
Ross Rowland has plans to restore #614 once again, for his new Yellow Ribbon Express. In 2015 Ross intended to convert the engine to burn natural gas but those plans have since been abandoned. Now a bio-diesel firing conversion is planned. In September 2024, it was officially announced that 614 is being restored to operation,
Trivia[]
- No. 614 is the only remaining C&O Greenbrier (Northern).
- No. 614 wore four whistles when it was operating in the 80s and 90s. Those being: a Reading 6 chime, a Norfolk & Western hooter, a Norfolk & Western Hancock 3 chime, a K5LA whistle and a Western 6 chime.
- The locomotive appeared in Reflections of the C&O Volume 1 and Glory Machines Volume 2 from Herron Rail video as C&O 611 due to the leased RF&P 4-8-4's at the time. The engine also appears in Mark I Video's Chessie Safety Express, Winter Coal Trains, and C&O 614 Return of a Thoroughbred DVD's.
External Links[]
Gallery[]
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