Louisville & Nashville 152 is a preserved K-2a class

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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

" type

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, currently homed at the

Kentucky Railway Museum The Kentucky Railway Museum, now located in New Haven, Kentucky, United States, is a non-profit railroad museum dedicated to educating the public regarding the history and heritage of Kentucky's railroads and the people who built them. Originall ...

New Haven, Kentucky New Haven is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 855 at the 2010 census. Geography New Haven is located adjacent to the Nelson- Larue county line at the intersection of US Route 31E and Kentucky ...

in southernmost

Nelson County, Kentucky Nelson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,065. Its county seat is Bardstown. Nelson County comprises the Bardstown, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included ...

. It is the oldest known remaining 4-6-2 "Pacific" type locomotive to exist. It is also the "Official State Locomotive of Kentucky", designated as such on March 6, 2000. The locomotive is currently owned and being restored back to operating condition by the Kentucky Railway Museum.

History

The L&N No. 152 was built in 1905 at

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Rogers Locomotive Works Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the ...

, with 6256 as its Rogers Construction Number. The

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

purchased No. 152 and four identical Pacifics at the cost of $13,406 apiece. Pleased with their five Pacifics, the L&N purchased forty more, which the Rogers Locomotive Works (by now owned by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

) sold to the L&N between 1906 and 1910. Originally, the L&N No. 152 serviced stations in

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Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Kentucky, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It pulled

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's campaign train between Louisville and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1912. When more powerful locomotives were purchased by the L&N in the 1920s, the Pacifics were assigned to the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

, a geographically flatter area. Railroad logs prove that No. 152 was one of the many "Pan American" passenger service. The No. 152 also pulled the car holding

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

on his way to

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

. As time went on, the No. 152 was used for less and less important routes. On February 17, 1953, the No. 152, the last surviving "K" class Pacific, was retired by the L&N, with its fate uncertain. During this time it was stored at

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. L&N President John E. Tilford personally ordered the locomotive to not be cut up for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

. The No. 152 was donated to the

, then located at 1837 East River Road in Louisville, Kentucky; it was one of the museum's first pieces. For thirty years it remained inoperative. After thirteen years of work, in September 1985, it was fired up for the first time in thirty-two years, thanks to funding by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

and the Brown Foundation. On April 26, 1986, the locomotive had entered

excursion An excursion is a trip by a group of people, usually made for leisure, education, or physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Public transportation ...

service, pulling seven railcars with a total of 365 passengers. While being refurbished, it stayed at the River Road location when the rest of the museum moved to its new location at Ormsby Station. In October 1987, 152 was leased to

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

for use on excursions for their Steam Program, operating a total of 3 trips. From 1987 to 1988, No. 152 ran several Mainline Excursions over TTI and

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

trackage. In 1990, with the Kentucky Railway Museums move to

, came the end of Mainline excursions for 152. Over the next 21 years, No. 152 pulled tourist trains over the museums former Louisville and Nashville Lebanon Branch from New Haven to

Boston, Kentucky Boston is a census-designated place in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. Boston is along I-65; its ZIP code is 40107. Boston is the home of Mount Moriah Baptist Church, organized in 1802. During 1929–1933, Mount Moriah was pastored ...

along with being featured on the

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

film Out of New York and the

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documentary made in Cooperation with

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Take Me to Chicago. On September 10, 2011, the No. 152 was withdrawn from service for the rest of the 2011 season due to boiler issues. Museum staff expressed skepticism that it will be able to return for future use without major work for which funding was not available at the time. The next overhaul for the engine was started on July 1, 2015. When it was originally placed on the National Register, it was located at the Kentucky Railway Museum's original location in

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 ...

. When the museum relocated to New Haven, No. 152 came with it. No. 152 is one of four rail vehicles at the Kentucky Railway Museum on the National Register. The others are the

Frankfort and Cincinnati Model 55 Rail Car The Frankfort and Cincinnati Model 55 Rail Car (also known as "''The Cardinal"'' and, colloquially to residents along it route, as The Dinky) is a historic railcar on the National Register of Historic Places. The railcar currently resides at the K ...

, the

Louisville and Nashville Combine Car Number 665 The Louisville and Nashville Combine Car Number 665, also known as the "Jim Crow Car", is a historic railcar on the National Register of Historic Places, currently at the Kentucky Railway Museum at New Haven, Kentucky, in southernmost Nelson Coun ...

and the

Mt. Broderick Pullman Car The ''Mt. Broderick'' Pullman Car is a historic railcar on the National Register of Historic Places, currently at the Kentucky Railway Museum at New Haven, Kentucky, in southernmost Nelson County, Kentucky. It has been described as a "four-sta ...

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:L and N Steam Locomotive No. 152 Rogers locomotives 4-6-2 locomotives 152 Individual locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Kentucky Symbols of Kentucky Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1905 Railway vehicles on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Preserved steam locomotives of Kentucky Transportation in Nelson County, Kentucky