Little History:


Chesapeake & Ohio L1 Hudsons are 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives built between 1946-1947 for the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad. Five rebuilt as L1 class Hudson (4-6-4) types at the C&O's Huntington, WV, workshops in 1946. Four (#490-#493) were fitted with the streamlining originally painted in orange. Following the acquisition of the Pere Marquette Railway, they were repainted yellow in 1948, which earned the rebuilt locomotives the somewhat unendearing nickname of "Yellowbellies"; but these were major rebuilds and only the outer boiler shell was retained from the older locomotives. Following WWII, the C&O was determined to revive falling passenger numbers and the four locomotives were designed to handle connecting services to the Chessie, a proposed new luxury art service between Washington, DC, and Cincinnati, OH, to replace the George Washington.


Original Design.