The Chesapeake & Ohio 2707 is a magnificent class K-4 steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company in 1943 during World War II.  She has a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement to handle the fast freight schedule demanded by the war-time needs.  She is over 105 feet long and over 15 ½ feet high.  She weighs over 460 thousand pounds.  She was one of the “Kanawhas,” so named because her main line paralleled the Kanawha River in West Virginia.
These Kanawhas worked from their creation until the mid 1950’s, when they were replaced by diesels.  Thirteen Kanawhas were donated to various cities, and the others were scrapped.
In 1958, the C&O 2707 was donated to the city of Cleveland, where she became a proud guest of Brookfield Park.  For over 30 years, visitors admired her and children considered her to be a playground – they climbed all over her.  At one time, she shined with gleaming brass gauges and glossy black paint.  But by the end of her Cleveland sojourn, her adornment was chiefly rust and graffiti.
In 1993, the C&O 2707 was moved to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, where she is now on display, preserving the memory of times past.