 Norfolk & Western #578 is the last surviving one of 26 E2a locomotives built for the Norfolk and Western Railway Company.Numbers 553-558 were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works while numbers 559-563 were built by the Norfolk & Western shops at Roanoke and numbers 564-579 were built by Alco's Richmond Works.The 4-6-2 designation indicates that there are four wheels in the pilot truck, six driving wheels, and two wheels in the trailing truck.