HOME | DD

Description
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) was primarily for coal, and wanted to attract passenger traffic. To that end, C&O management designed a luxury train to run from Washington, DC to Cincinnati, Ohio. The intended engines for the "Chessie" were turbine locomotives, but World War II got in the way. So the C&O put a streamlined casing on Alco-built L1-class 4-6-4 steam engine No. 490. No. 490 certainly looked fine, but the highways and airplanes of the postwar era forced the C&O to cancel the "Chessie" streamliner. No. 490 worked on some passenger trains before retirement, and is now in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum.

Description
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) was primarily for coal, and wanted to attract passenger traffic. To that end, C&O management designed a luxury train to run from Washington, DC to Cincinnati, Ohio. The intended engines for the "Chessie" were turbine locomotives, but World War II got in the way. So the C&O put a streamlined casing on Alco-built L1-class 4-6-4 steam engine No. 490. No. 490 certainly looked fine, but the highways and airplanes of the postwar era forced the C&O to cancel the "Chessie" streamliner. No. 490 worked on some passenger trains before retirement, and is now in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum.