C&O | Locomotives

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Chesapeake & Ohio Railway - C&O

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Diesel Locomotive Roster

Electro-Motive Division (EMD)

  • SW1: 2 locomotives.
    • 1 acquired from predecessor Pere Marquette Railway.
    • Another was purchased from the B&OCT.
  • NW2: 35 locomotives.
    • This includes 14 units inherited from the Pere Marquette Railway in 1947.
  • NW5: 1 locomotive.
    • Originally owned by the Fort Street Union Depot.
  • BL2: 10 locomotives.
    • These were ordered by the Pere Marquette before its merger and were delivered in C&O paint in 1948.
  • E7A: 22 locomotives.
    • Includes 8 units from Pere Marquette.
  • E8A: 32 locomotives.
    • The C&O inherited some of its E8s from the Pere Marquette.
  • FP7A: 16 locomotives.
    • Primarily used for passenger service, often in conjunction with E-units.
  • SW7: 26 locomotives.
    • Part of a large switcher fleet purchased by C&O.
  • SW9: 29 locomotives.
    • Includes 5 units from Canadian National’s Grand Trunk Western affiliate.
  • GP7: 185 locomotives.
    • C&O was a major user of this versatile road switcher model.
  • GP9: 363 locomotives.
    • The C&O was one of EMD’s biggest customers for the GP9, using them widely across the system.
  • SD18: 30 locomotives.
    • A group of road freight units used for heavy hauling.
  • GP30: 48 locomotives.
    • Includes 16 units with a modified “high short hood” and freight pilot, purchased for coal-hauling service.
  • GP35: 53 locomotives.
    • This included some units that replaced wrecked GP30s.
  • SD35: 23 locomotives.
    • Six-axle road freight locomotives.
  • GP38: 60 locomotives.
    • The C&O had a large fleet of second-generation EMD power.
  • GP39: 20 locomotives.
    • A less common model, but a reliable part of the roster.
  • SD40: 62 locomotives.
    • Formed a substantial part of the C&O’s heavy freight fleet.
  • GP40: 45 locomotives.
    • A common sight across the system for many years.
  • GP40-2: 80 locomotives.
    • A large group of these reliable units were acquired in two batches.
  • GP15T: 25 locomotives.
    • A later model acquired for switching and local freight service.
  • SD50: 42 locomotives.
    • The C&O received these modern high-horsepower units in the mid-1980s. 

American Locomotive Company (ALCO)

  • S2: 58 locomotives.
    • Older switcher units, several were later rebuilt into slugs.
  • RS-2: 2 locomotives.
    • An early road switcher design.
  • RSD-5: 26 locomotives.
    • Freight units with a C-C truck arrangement for better traction.
  • S-4: 14 locomotives.
    • A later, more powerful switcher than the S2.
  • RS-1: 2 locomotives.
    • An early road switcher design.
  • RS-3: 2 locomotives.
    • An upgraded version of the RS-1.
  • RSD-12: 10 locomotives.
    • Another six-axle road switcher.
  • RSD-15: 12 locomotives.
    • Referred to as “Alligators” due to their long, low noses.
  • C-630: 4 locomotives.
    • Powerful six-axle freight units, a late-generation ALCO. 

General Electric (GE)

  • 44-ton: 2 locomotives.
    • One was from the Pere Marquette.
  • 70-ton: 2 locomotives.
    • These early switchers were also acquired from the Pere Marquette.
  • U25B: 38 locomotives.
    • Part of the first generation of GE’s “U-boats,” an early competitor to EMD.
  • U30B: 35 locomotives.
    • A later version of the U-boat, providing 3,000 horsepower.
  • U30C: 13 locomotives.
    • The six-axle version of the U30B.
  • B30-7: 64 locomotives.
    • A large fleet of these modern, four-axle units were added to the roster in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW)

  • DRS-6-6-1500: 3 locomotives.
    • Road switchers with a three-axle truck design.
  • AS-616: 43 locomotives.
    • The C&O was one of Baldwin’s largest customers for this powerful road switcher. 

C&O locomotive slugs

  • Locomotive slugs: 11 units.
    • These are booster units built from the frames of retired ALCO and Baldwin units.

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For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org