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L&N 152 Tender

L&N 152 is a K2-a class Pacific built for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1905, by the Rogers Locomotive Works in Paterson, NJ. 152 and her 4 sisters would serve the L&N well, and as such they came back to Rogers (now owned by Alco) for 40 more engines. The locomotive would serve across the system, and became notable in 1912 for pulling Theodore Roosevelt's campaign train between Louisville and Cincinnati. A year later in 1913 152 derailed and was sent to the railroad's South Louisville Shops for rebuild into a K2-a (the locomotive was originally a K-1 class). As bigger locomotives arrived, the Pacifics were relocated to the Gulf Coast as it was flatter terrain. By the 1950s, L&N was beginning to dieselize and the less powerful locomotives would be retired, and 152 was taken out of service in 1953. The Louisville & Nashville dieselized fully in 1956.

However, this wasn't the end. When L&N retired 152 in '53 it was the only K class Pacific left, and the L&N's President at the time, John E. Tilford, personally ordered the locomotive to not be cut up. The locomotive was donated to the Kentucky Railway Museum, being one of the first pieces of the museum's collection, at the time located at 1837 East River Road in Louisville, Kentucky. After 32 years, L&N 152 was fired up in September 1985 and it would run trips at the museum and excursions on the mainline. In October of '87 it was leased to NS for their Steam Program, and would have the L&N logo covered up by an imitation gold NS logo. From '87 to '89 it ran excursions over TTI and CSX, attracting many southeastern railfans during these trips.

In 1990, KRM moved to its current location in New Haven, KY, and this would mark the end of 152's mainline excursion career. For 21 more years it ran trips along the museum's preserved L&N Lebanon Branch until 2011, when it was taken out of service due to boiler issues. As funding was not available at the time, restoration did not start until 2015. The restoration is expected to be completed by 2026-2027.

Quick Facts:
152 is on the National Register of Historic Places
152 is also the Official State Locomotive of Kentucky
It is the oldest 4-6-2 in existance

More L&N stuff coming soon