Description
The 2-6-6-6 is an articulated locomotive with two leading wheels. Only two classes were built: the "Allegheny" class by Lima Locomotive Works and the "Blue Ridge" class for the Virginian Railway.
Rivarossi has reproduced 3 versions of these Cheseapeake & Ohio 2-6-6 articulated steam locomotives in H0 scale: HR2950, ‘Allegheny’ No 1601, HR2951, ‘Allegheny’ No 1632 and HR2952, ‘Allegheny’ No 1653.
Sixty "Allegheny" class locomotives were built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway between 1941 and 1948, primarily to haul coal over the Allegheny Mountains. With a power output of 7,500 hp, they were among the heaviest steam locomotives ever built. The tenders had a 25,000-gallon water tank and a 25-ton coal bunker, with the rear section higher to fit turntable limits, leading to weight distribution issues.
Only two Allegheny locomotives survive today. One, C&O 1601, was donated to The Henry Ford Museum in 1956, where it remains on display. The other, after being damaged by a flood in 1985 and cosmetically restored, is now housed at the B&O Railroad Museum.
