C&O 310, class L2a 4-6-4 Hudson type on ready track at Cincinnati Union Terminal service area, September 1950. Built by Baldwin in 1948, the L2a's were the world's largest Hudson types, dwarfing those of the New York Central and weighing in slightly heavier than those of AT&SF. They featured Franklin type B rotary cam poppet valves and 78" drivers. All were assigned to mainline passenger work on C&O's flatter western main lines, working between Cincinnati/Detroit and Hinton, WV. E-8 diesels bumped the Hudsons from passenger service in 1952 and all were out of service the following year. All were scrapped by 1955. View full size.