The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's class L-2 comprised eight coal-fired 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives numbered 300–307 and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1941.

In 1947, the C&O ordered five additional and very similar locomotives, numbering them 310–314; these were class L-2-A and differed mostly in using Franklin RC poppet valves instead of the Baker valve gear of the L-2s.

The heaviest were the C&O's L2a class at 443,000 lbs,[1] They were intended to work the C&O's top-flight express trains on level ground; the railroad purchased 4-8-4 "Greenbrier" types for mountain service.

By 1953, C&O passenger services were wholly dieselized, and there was no more work for these locomotives to do.

Hudson locomotives were very unsuited to freight work, with such a comparatively small proportion of their weight on the drivers.