L&N | Locomotives

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Louisville & Nashville Railroad | L&N

Louisville & Nashville Railroad Diesel Locomotive Roster

Below is a diesel locomotive roster for the Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad, organized by manufacturer and then by model. This roster includes the number of units the L&N owned for each model, including those acquired through mergers, particularly with the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL) in 1957. There are numerous websites, books, and archived reference materials that include the details of each locomotive.

Photo Credit: L&N, Family Lines and Personal Collection.

L&N | Locomotives

Editor’s Note: Because of variation in sources, the data below is still in the review stage, and future edits may occur.

Electro-Motive Division (EMD)

  • E6A/E6B: Delivered in the early 1940s.
    • Number of units: 8 E6As and 8 E6Bs
  • E7A/E7B: Acquired in the post-war years.
    • Number of units: 12 E7As and 12 E7Bs (including NC&StL units)
  • E8A: Last E-units acquired directly by the L&N.
    • Number of units: 4
  • F3A/F3B: Acquired mostly through the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 2 F3As and 3 F3Bs
  • F7A/F7B: Workhorse freight units.
    • Number of units: 63 F7As and 17 F7Bs
  • FP7: Dual-service passenger and freight locomotives.
    • Number of units: 45
  • F9A/F9B: A small number of F9s were purchased later.
    • Number of units: 9 F9As and 4 F9Bs
  • GP7: A versatile road switcher, including units from the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 59
  • GP9: An updated version of the GP7.
    • Number of units: 30
  • GP18: Followed the large GP9 orders.
    • Number of units: 5
  • GP30: A significant “second-generation” road switcher.
    • Number of units: 58
  • GP35: Continuing with new EMD models.
    • Number of units: 16
  • SD35: Six-axle units for heavy-duty freight.
    • Number of units: 22
  • SDP35: Six-axle passenger units.
    • Number of units: 4
  • SD40: Six-axle freight units.
    • Number of units: 34
  • SD40-2: Dash 2 version of the SD40.
    • Number of units: 195
  • SW1: Light-duty switcher, including NC&StL units.
    • Number of units: 5 (additional units inherited)
  • NW2: Acquired both new and through merger.
    • Number of units: 5 (additional units inherited)
  • SW7: Medium-duty switcher, including NC&StL units.
    • Number of units: 22
  • SW9: Switchers from the L&N’s dieselization plan.
    • Number of units: 20
  • SW1200: Delivered in the late 1950s.
    • Number of units: 4
  • SW1500: Modern switchers.
    • Number of units: 30
  • MP15DC: Yard and transfer units.
    • Number of units: 10
  • MP15AC: Delivered in the late 1970s.
    • Number of units: 10
  • GP38: Reliable road switcher.
    • Number of units: 20
  • GP38AC: Acquired in the early 1970s.
    • Number of units: 30
  • GP38-2: Dash 2 version of the GP38.
    • Number of units: 129
  • GP40: Total of 30 units purchased.
    • Number of units: 30
  • SD38-2: Small fleet delivered in the mid-1970s.
    • Number of units: 17
  • GP40-2: Dash 2 version of the GP40.
    • Number of units: 17 

American Locomotive Company (ALCO)

  • C420: Acquired new and through the Tennessee Central merger.
    • Number of units: 79
  • C628:
    • Number of units: 15
  • C630:
    • Number of units: 8
  • HH660: An early diesel switcher.
    • Number of units: 1
  • S1: Switchers, some inherited from the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 45
  • S2: Switchers from the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 7
  • S3: Acquired new and secondhand.
    • Number of units: 7
  • S4: Acquired new and secondhand.
    • Number of units: 28
  • RS2: Acquired secondhand from the Lehigh & New England Railroad.
    • Number of units: 10
  • RS3: Some units acquired from the Tennessee Central merger.
    • Number of units: Varies
  • RS36: Acquired from the Tennessee Central merger.
    • Number of units: 5
  • C420: Acquired new and through the Tennessee Central merger.
    • Number of units: Varies (estimated >60 total)
  • FA-1: Acquired secondhand from the Lehigh & New England.
    • Number of units: 10 
  • FA-2:
    • Number of units: 44
  • FB-2:
    • Number of units: 14
  • FPA-2:
    • Number of units: 5

Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW)

  • VO660: Switchers acquired new and through the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 9
  • VO1000: Switchers acquired new and through the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 4 

Fairbanks-Morse

  • H-12-44: A popular switcher model.
    • Number of units: 4
  • H-16-44: Road switchers that saw service on the L&N.
    • Number of units: 2
  • H-24-66 (Train Master): Powerful road switchers, but mechanically complex.
    • Number of units: 2 

General Electric (GE)

  • 44-tonner: Small industrial switchers acquired through the NC&StL merger.
    • Number of units: 4 (plus NC&StL units)
  • 70-tonner: Light-duty switchers.
    • Number of units: 2
  • B23-7
    • Number of Units: 15
  • C30-7
    • Number of Units: 40+
  • U23B
    • Number of Units: 96
  • U25B
    • Number of Units: 27
  • U25C
    • Number of Units: 19
  • U28B
    • Number of Units: 5
  • U30B
    • Number of Units: 5
  • U30C
    • Number of Units: 79

Notes

  • Mergers: The L&N’s roster expanded considerably through mergers, with notable acquisitions from the NC&StL in 1957, the Tennessee Central in 1968, and the Monon Railroad in 1971.
  • Rebuilds: The L&N was known for its in-house rebuilding programs, converting older units into “slugs.”
  • Legacy: In 1982, the L&N, along with several other railroads, was absorbed into the newly formed Seaboard System, which eventually became part of CSX Transportation in 1986. Many of these locomotives continued to serve under these new corporate banners. 

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For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org