The class F-17 was built in 1914 by ALCO-Richmond for use on the line between Charlottesville, Virginia, to Hinton, West Virginia. This line crossed three mountain ranges and the requirements said that these locomotives had to haul ten-car trains of 674 tons over this line with an average of 25.5 mph. The six locomotives had drivers of only 69 inches and large cylinders with a diameter of 27 inches and a stroke of 28 inches. They also had Ragonnet power reverse gear, a mechanical stoker and a pneumatic grate shaker.

Numbers were originally 182 to 187, but they were renumbered to 470 to 475 in 1925. In 1934, the Cleveland shops of the C&O rebuilt all locomotives into the class F-17A. Now they had 74-inch drivers, a boiler pressure of 200 psi and a Worthington feed water heater. These measures increased the locomotive weight by eleven tons. They were now coupled to six-axle Vanderbilt tenders with 16,000 gallons of water and 20 tons of coal. They were later enlarged to 18,000 gallons and 28 tons. Retirements were in 1951 and 1952.