C&O 2-6-6-2 No.1309 at the WMSR The Restoration Continues!
Chesapeake & Ohio's No.1309 is a 2-6-6-2 H-6 class Mallet. The locomotive is one of ten of her class and one of 251 2-6-6-2's owned by the C&O. Built in Eddystone, PA in September of 1949 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, No. 1309 turned out to be the last Mallet ever constructed in the US and the last domestic steam locomotive built by Baldwin. The C&O retired No. 1309 in 1956, though she remained in the Peach Creek Terminal Roundhouse until donated to the museum in 1972. Only one other example of this class survives today, (No. 1308), and can be found on display in Huntington, WV. No. 1309 is currently undergoing a restoration to operation as seen here in the photo above in the engine shop in Ridgley, WV at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. And, yes - she'll fit just fine on the turntable at Frostburg!