The "Alpha" of Chesapeake & Ohio 2700 class 2-8-4's taken at Dennison, Ohio this past September:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 51&nseq=98

Of the 90 K4 class Kanawha's built for the C&O, twelve still survive. Hard to believe there is one in sadder shape than the first of the 90, number 2700 shown here. There was also a thirteenth donated by the railroad, but #2701 was so badly vandalized in Buffalo, New York, that she had to be scrapped. Let's hope that time eventually see's the 2700 restored to a better condition.

Les

I agree that let's hope someday the O/C folks get tired of looking at her as she is today and at least spruce her up a little cosmetically??? Believe it or not, she looks a lot better today at Dennison than she did not long ago sitting outside the Timken plant in Canton where she was abandoned by the foamers who were "restoring" her!!
Ross Rowland

The C&0 2700 is owned by the Denison, OH Railroad Museum, not the Ohio Central. Any further restoration would seem to be at the discretion of the Museum, not the Ohio Central.

She doesn't really look that bad. She looks "naked" more than anything else, but the optimist in me says all the valuable accessories and appliances are safely tucked away somewhere. (I hope I'm right.) At least there's no boiler jacket holding wet asbestos against the shell. The tender looks pretty good.

I agree, she doesn't look all that bad. I think that the 2707 at Illinois Railway museum looked much worse before she was repainted. It was just a quick repaint, but better than nothing, but she has a lot of holes where metal used to be. As for the 2700, I remember that back in 1991 at the Huntington NRHS convention, there was a promotion and even a photo in Trains magazine that she was to be shipped to Fort Wayne for restoration by the FWRHS. Of course that never happened, but I do think that some of the trinkets from her were used to convert the "765" to the "2765". They of course later acuired the 2716 for a few years and even ran her one year. Additions or corrections greatly appreciated.
Steve

the Museum told me that the she belonged to the OC.
I hope that now that the OC has their own 2-8-4, the 2700 doesn't become a parts engine for 763
Compared to other park type engines I've seen, she doesn't look bad at all. the jacketing is off, so the lagging isn't sitting gainst the boiler, rotting. all her trim, etc is off, thats what makes her look bad.

If memory serves me correctly she does technically belong to the O/C. I also believe that Mr. Jacobson agreed to "adopt" her when the property owners in Canton where she sat totally derelict for years began the motions to scrap her in place???
My guess is that she is way down near the bottom of whatever fix it up list Jerry has and the best that can be hoped for is maybe a quick extrerior paint job someday??
IMHO-Ross Rowland

thats the story I heard. I just wish JJ would have his guys spruce her up a bit. I'm close enough I've already offered to help.

Are the two 2-8-4's close enough in design to make a worthwhile effort out of restoring them simultaneously? I realize that the immensity of a steam locomotive ( a big steam locomotive) restoration makes it simplistic to offer advice and commentary from the side lines, yet, would it be worthwhile to consider undertaking such a massive project, as was done 6 decades past, in locomotive shops across America? Turning out twin 2-8-4's to handle freights would be an unbelievable achievement in the history of steam restoration in the states, and if anyone has the ability to do so, it would seem like OC has the will, the way, and the ability to narrow the expenses.