Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309 is a 2-6-6-2 compound articulated steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949.
It belonged to C&O’s H-6 class, ordered to support heavy coal operations in West Virginia and Kentucky even as most major railroads were rapidly buying diesel locomotives.
The H-6 design used compound expansion, with steam working first in high-pressure cylinders and then again in larger low-pressure cylinders.
C&O originally planned a larger order but reduced the number of H-6 locomotives as operating needs changed.
The 1300-series engines became the final steam locomotives Baldwin built for a North American railroad, making No. 1309 important both as an operating machine and as an endpoint in locomotive manufacturing history.
No. 1309’s regular career was brief because C&O dieselized rapidly after its delivery.
The locomotive was preserved for decades at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum before Western Maryland Scenic Railroad acquired it in 2014.
Restoration proved more extensive than initially expected because many components were heavily worn despite the locomotive’s short original service life.
No. 1309 moved under steam again at the end of 2020 and entered revenue excursion service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in late 2021.
For TransitSatellite, No. 1309 should not be called a Western Maryland Railway locomotive. Its original railroad was Chesapeake & Ohio; Western Maryland Scenic is the modern preservation operator using former Western Maryland route infrastructure.