Thunder on Cranberry, C&O 614 Battles the Steep B&O Grades

C&O engine #614 climbs the arduous hills of the Chessie System, including B&O’s toughest gares: 17 Mile Grade, Cranberry and Sand Patch grades. What a show of steam! This is the only photographic record of an extraordinary feat, in which the famous C&O engine #614 climbs one of the toughest grades in the eastern United States, the infamous 2.5% Cranberry grade. 614 slows to a walk. Blasts from the stack are slower than human breath, but the engine never falters.

Watch C&O engine #614 in this spectacular display of steam power as the engine takes on the slopes of the Chessie System. #614 ascends one of the toughest grades in the eastern United States, unassisted, with a full complement of heavyweight passenger cars. The legendary 2.5% Cranberry grade is rarely photographed because of its remote location deep in the West Virginia mountains. Eyeball to eyeball pacing let’s you experience Chessie power up close.

The film also captures #614 tackling the famous 17 Mile Grade on the opposite side of Cranberry mountain. You are within a few feet of the drivers as the engine marches a steady 10 MPH to the summit. The engine blasts over both Sand Patch and the lesser known Streets Run grades. Excellent maps help with locations.