In the early ‘40s, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was in need of new motive power for both freight and passenger service. After extensive studies, the company opted for 14 new E6 passenger locomotives to handle the varnish runs, and 14 2-8-4s from Baldwin. In both cases, the new power arrived on the property in 1942—just in time to help the “Old Reliable” deal with a huge upturn in traffic for WWII. The steam locomotives—which were classed as M-1s—were eventually nicknamed “Big Emmas” by the Cincinnati Division crews who handled them between Corbin and Cincinnati. Four of the engines came with steam and signal lines for passenger service, and handled through trains such as the Southland and Flamingo, plus turns on locals and troop trains. Another six Baldwin “Emmas” were added in 1944. In 1948, studies were made again on post-war motive power needs. The L&N was still committed to coal and the steam locomotive, so an order for 22 brand new 2-8-4s from Lima (by then, Lima-Hamilton) was placed. In this scene from early 1949, one of the “Emmas” from that order is under construction at Lima’s plant in Ohio. Two Lima workmen are using a pry bar to ease something into place behind the valve gear of this engine (unfortunately, the number is unknown). The power reverse has been mounted and some of the valve gear linkage, but except for the eccentric crank, the rods are still to come. The unpainted metal parts reveal the newness of the locomotive. To the right is the General Steel Castings engine bed of a sister M-1. This huge casting also included the cylinders and main air reservoir. To illustrate the then routine process of constructing such huge machines in the US from scratch at that time, the first of the 22 L&N Limas steamed south on the B&O en route to Cincinnati on January 14, 1949. That’s a brand new locomotive about every five days. The last one—L&N 1991—was dispatched on May 11th, just three days ahead of Lima’s last steam locomotive—Nickel Plate 779. The fleet of 42 L&N 2-8-4s performed like champs, but their reign was brief. The last one rolled into DeCoursey, KY with a coal train from Ravenna on November 3, 1956. For big steam on the L&N, it was over. And---sadly not a single one of these outstanding machines was saved from scrap. (Lima-Hamilton Photo)
