PREORDER BLI 4909 C&O J3a 4-8-4, #614, “The Greenbrier Presidential Express”, w/ Paragon3 Sound/DC/DCC, HO

C&O 4-8-4 GREENBRIER

Chesapeake & Ohio 614 is a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, in June 1948 for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) as a member of the J3a class. As one of the last commercially built steam locomotives in the United States, the locomotive was built with the primary purpose of hauling long, heavy, high speed express passenger trains for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway such as the George Washington and the Fast Flying Virginian. Retired from active service in the late 1950s, the 614 was preserved and placed on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1979, the locomotive was restored to operating condition and was used for extensive mainline excursion service from the 1970s until the late 1990s. Today the locomotive is on temporary display at the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia awaiting a potential return to steam.

Most railroads called their 4-8-4s “Northerns,” which is short for the railroad first using the 4-8-4 type, Northern Pacific Railroad. The workers of the C&O could not see naming these locomotives “Northerns” as the railroad was based in the southeast. The famous Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a major resort on the C&O main line, was the inspiration for the name “Greenbrier” applied to these 4-8-4s.

The C&O had a total of 12 4-8-4s, with the first five numbered 600-604 built in 1935, with the designation J-3. In 1942, two more were ordered from Lima numbered 605-606. In 1948, the design changed slightly and the 610-614 were produced, with the J-3-A designation. All J-3s were retired in 1955; however, several (including 614) were reactivated in 1956.

Due to increasing traffic, the C&O borrowed eleven 4-8-4s from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) numbered 613-622. Because of one of the borrowed engines being numbered 614, the C&O renumbered J-3-A 614 to 611. Before the year closed out, both the 611 (614) and RF&P engines were retired, and 611 was sent to storage in Russell, Kentucky.

Operation in both DC and DCC environments

• Synchronized Puffing Smoke with each Chuff

• Variable Puffing Smoke Intensity and Timing

• Equipped with Traction Tires

• Minimum Operating Radius: 22 in or greater