Louisville & Nashville Mikados

The Louisville & Nashville Railroad's shops in South Louisville, KY built the railroads first "Mikado" type locomotives in 1914. These first 2-8-2s were designated as Class J-1 and were given road numbers 2400-2415. These locomotives were built to pull coal trains in eastern Kentucky and did very well in that roll. Satisfied with the Class J-1 design the railroad built another 34 between 1915 and 1917 and numbered them 1416-1449. In 1918, twelve more similar locomotives were built and numbered 1450-1461. They had 27 ½" x 30" cylinders and a 190 psi boiler pressure, which resulted in an increase of 3,700 pounds in tractive effort. This group was designated as Class J-1a.

Twelve more L&N built 2-8-2s came in 1918 and 1919. These locomotives were assigned road numbers 1462-1479 and designated as Class J-2. They looked very similar to the J-1s. A few years later in 1921, the shops in Louisville, built more of the J-2s and designated them as Class J-2a and numbered them 1480-1479. At 328,000 pounds, they were the heaviest ever built by the L&N in its own shops.

The First World War brought more 2-8-2 locomotives. The USRA allocated 93 "Mikado-Light" and 20 "Mikado-Heavy" locomotives to the L&N. The 93 Lights were designated as Class J-3. The 18 Lima built were numbered 1500-1517 and the 75 ALCO built were numbered 1518-1592. The heavy type were designated as Class J-4. The 20 that arrived in 1918 were built by ALCO and were assigned road numbers 1750-1769. The L&N was very satisfied with these locomotives. Between 1923 and 1927 they bought 121 more of the Class J-4s from ALCO. These were numbered 1770-1890. In 1929, the Baldwin Locomotives Works built 24 more J-4s. These locomotives were of the same basic design as the rest of the J-4s except they were equipped with a Franklin Trailer Booster, which exerted an additional 12,075 pounds of tractive effort. The L&N designated this last 24 "Mikados" as Class J-4a.

There was one more L&N 2-8-2, built in 1924 by the Brooks Works of ALCO. This locomotive was designated as Class J-5 and was assigned road number 1999. It was experimental three-cylinder design and was not very successful in main line operation. It was assigned to hump yard duties where it served for many years.

There are no surviving L&N 2-8-2 "Mikado" type locomotives.

ClassQty.Road NumbersYear BuiltBuilderNotes
J-1162400-24151914L&N 
J-1341416-14491915-1917L&N 
J-1a121450-14611918L&N 
J-2181462-14791918-1919L&N 
J-2a161480-14791921L&N 
J-3181500-15171919LimaUSRA Mikado-Light locomotives
J-3751518-15921920-1923ALCOUSRA Mikado-Light locomotives
J-4201750-17691918ALCOThese locomotives were numbered 1550-1569 when built in 1918 and renumbered 1750-1769 in 1923 (at that time some of the Class J-3 locomotives were assigned the 1550-1569 numbers. Equipped with a booster that exerted an additional 12,075 pounds of tractive effort. USRA Mikado-Heavy locomotives.
J-41211770-18901923-1927ALCO 
J-4a241891-19141929Baldwin 
J-5119991924ALCONumber 1999 was a three cylinder locomotive

Specifications
ClassJ-1J-1aJ-2J-2aJ-3J-4J-4aJ-5
Wheel Arrangement:2-8-22-8-22-8-22-8-22-8-22-8-22-8-22-8-2
Length:77’-6 ¼”77’-6 ¼”79’-7 7/8”79’-7 7/8”81’-11 3/8”82’-3 5/8”82’-3 5/8”83’-7 5/8”
Drivers:60" dia.60" dia.60" dia,60" dia.63" dia.63" dia.63" dia.63" dia.
Weight on Drivers:245,950 lbs.249,750 lbs.255,000 lbs.253,000 lbs.220,000 lbs.240,000 lbs.256,340 lbs.245,000 lbs.
Total Locomotive Weight:302,000 lbs.306,700 lbs.326,000 lbs.328,000 lbs.290,000 lbs.323,000 lbs.325,530 lbs.336,900 lbs.
Locomotive & Tender Weight:472,900 lbs.476,200 lbs.501,000 lbs.499,000 lbs.477,400 lbs.515,000 lbs624,300 lbs.524,300 lbs.
Grate Area:    66.7 sq. ft.70.8 sq. ft.70.3 sq. ft.70.3 sq. ft.
Cylinders (dia. x stroke):(2) 27"x30"(2) 27 ½" x 30"(2) 28"x 30"(2) 28" x 30"(2) 26" x 30" (2) 27" x 32"(2) 27" x 32"(2) 23" x 32" (1) 23" x 28"
Boiler Pressure:185 psi190 psi195 psi195 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi200 psi
Tractive Effort:57,300 lbs.61,000 lbs.65,000 lbs.65,000 lbs.54,700 lbs.63,000 lbs.63,000 lbs.65,700 lbs.
Tender Capacity:        
Coal:18 tons18 tons16 tons16 tons16 tons19 tons19 tons16 tons
Water:8,500 gals.8,500 gals.9,000 gals.9,000 gals.10,000 gals.16,000 gals.10,000 gals.10,000 gals.

Photos

Reference

Much thanks to Richard Duley who has helped to provide a great deal of the information found on this page.