The

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

's No. 1 was the railroad's only

4-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as t ...

"Hudson" type locomotive and the only 4-6-4 in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

built for

freight service Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...

. It was rebuilt in the railroad's own shops from Illinois Central 7000 class

2-8-4 Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though ...

"Berkshire" No. 7038 in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

as an experiment to haul fast freight trains, which were growing too large for

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

"Pacific" types and required more speed than the road's

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

locomotives could manage; the 2-8-4 class it was rebuilt from had rough riding at above 40 mph. The experiment was not successful. The locomotive proved prone to slipping, because its

factor of adhesion An adhesion railway relies on adhesion traction to move the train. Adhesion traction is the friction between the drive wheels and the steel rail. The term "adhesion railway" is used only when it is necessary to distinguish adhesion railways from ...

was very low; in simple terms it was too powerful for its ability to grip the rails. John L. McIntyre, the road foreman of engines at

Clinton, Illinois Clinton is the largest city in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,225 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County. The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817–182 ...

where the locomotive was assigned during the 1938–1939 period, made some modifications to the locomotive, including to the weight equalization across the locomotives' wheels and to reduce the cylinder diameter from . The latter was to reduce the starting

tractive effort As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...

to a level the locomotive's grip on the rails could handle. The improvements were successful, but not to the degree that the railroad ordered any further conversions. The rest of the 2-8-4s would also be rebuilt but retained their wheel arrangements and the last were retired in the mid 1950s. In 1945, the locomotive was renumbered 2499 and assigned to passenger service between

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and

Fulton, Kentucky Fulton is a home rule-class city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,357 at the 2020 census, down from 2,445 at the 2010 census. It was once known as the "Banana Capital of the World", because 70% of imported banana ...

. It was retired from service in 1949 and soon after scrapped.

References

* * 4-6-4 locomotives 1 Lima locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Steam locomotives of the United States Scrapped locomotives Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1926 {{steam-loco-stub