Age of Steam Roundhouse acquires rare C&O steam locomotive

Sugarcreek museum adds 500-ton articulated engine No. 1308, one of the last built by Baldwin Locomotive Works.

A side view of #1308

The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek has acquired the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1308 from the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society in Huntington, West Virginia.

“No. 1308 has been displayed unprotected outdoors in a Huntington city park since Oct. 9, 1962,” said Nathan Vance, executive director of the museum. “While CPH members regularly repainted their steamer, paint protected only No. 1308’s exterior surfaces, and rusting of the locomotive’s boiler and other steel parts has continued from the inside out for 63 years. The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum can end all of that.”

The Age of Steam Roundhouse is an 18-stall, heated and dry facility constructed by founder Jerry Joe Jacobson to restore, operate, maintain and exhibit his personal collection of steam locomotives.

“The museum always wanted an articulated locomotive having dual sets of driving wheels underneath one long boiler, with the forward set of drivers able to swing from side to side to navigate curved tracks,” said Tim Sposato, chief mechanical officer. “When we inquired with CPH officials about relinquishing ownership of No. 1308, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that their board liked the idea of new ownership.”

C&O No. 1308 is one of 10 articulated locomotives built in November 1949 to haul coal trains from privately owned tipples to the railroad’s large yard in Peach Creek, Logan County, W.Va. Fewer than 30 articulated steam locomotives remain today. The engine was also among the last produced by Baldwin Locomotive Works for use in the United States, making it a significant addition to the collection. No. 1308 becomes the museum’s 25th steam locomotive.

“Now begins the gargantuan task of moving the 99-foot-long, 500-ton No. 1308 from Huntington to Sugarcreek,” Vance said. “The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum has accomplished such feats in the past, and we are well prepared to do so once again.”

More information is available at ageofsteamroundhouse.org.

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