“For over one hundred years the steam locomotives provided the principal motive power on the Louisville &Nashville RR. During this period over 2000 different steam engines were owned by the Old Reliable. “ Thus begins Richard E. Prince's encyclopaedic study of the Louisville &Nashville's Steam Locomotives.
First published in 1959 and revised in 1968, this is the crucial book for any of the L&N's many steam fans. With hundreds of vintage photographs, detailed rosters, and schematic drawings it is an invaluable resource for railroad buffs and historians. But even casual readers will become swept up in the magisterial way Mr. Prince traces the growth and diversification of the L&N as it grows and expands through and ambitious building plan and the acquisition of numerous independent lines.
The L&N's first 3 engines, in fact, never saw service on the L&N because after laying only two and one half miles of track south from Louisville in 1855 the wise decision to switch to 5-ft. gauge was made. Little is known of the fate of those engines, but the decision was certainly the right one for the Railroad as a whole. The smaller guage was very popular south of the Ohio river.
Much of the L&N's motive power was confiscated by the Confederacy during the War Between the States and confederate raids on bridges and rolling stock made life miserable for the new Railroad as well. But, after the war many of the locomotives were recovered and the line expanded quickly to become one of the largest and most efficient railroads in the South, learning its handle “The Old Reliable.”