Kincaid A. Herr - The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, 1850-1963

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The
Louisville & Nashville
Railroad

The
Louisville & Nashville
Railroad

1850-1963

KINCAID HERR

With a Foreword by Lyle Key

First Printing - April 1943
Second Printing - August 1943
Third Printing - October 1959
Fourth Printing - December 1960
Revised Edition - March 1964

Publication of this volume was made possible in part by
grants from the E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund and
the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Copyright 2000 by The University Press of Kentucky
Paperback edition 2009

The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from
the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-8131-9318-2 (pbk: acid-free paper)

This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting
the requirements of the American National Standard
for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Member of the Association of American University Presses

Contents

Foreword to the 2000 Edition

During my high school years in the early 1960s, I purchased a copy of the fourth edition of this book for a mere three dollars. The volume proved to be a good investment for a young railfan with a voracious appetite for information about railroads, the Louisville & Nashville in particular. Much to my delight, Kincaid Herr wrote in a light, entertaining style that made his history quite enjoyable. The book proved to be detailed enough to answer most of my questions about the L&Ns origins and development, yet the lines history was sufficiently condensed and distilled to prevent the sensation that one was ploughing through a thick and tedious textbook. Thanks to the corporate background provided by Kincaid Herr, I felt quite at home in November of 1969 when I reported for my first L&N job in room 100 of Louisville Union Station.

Kincaid Herrs career with the L&N spanned over forty years, and during most of that time, he was associated with L&N Magazine. Thus, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad is an in-house corporate history that endeavors to cast the railroads activities in a positive light. Nevertheless, it does not come across as a propaganda piece and generally may be characterized as a solid recounting of the railroads long and notable existence.

Herrs book traces the development and expansion of the L&N system, from its beginning in 1850 to the early part of the twentieth century. After covering the railroads era of expansion, the book then focuses on significant events involving the L&N from the early 1900s to the early 1960s. Herr also offers four appendices on special topicssuch as passenger equipment and motive powerand a veritable treasure trove of photographs and drawings spanning the life of the company. The author goes to great lengths to cover the many facets of the railroad, writing about subjects such as expansion into new markets, large and small railroad stations, connections with sailing ships in Pensacola, the expansive South Louisville Shops, and the once-famous Pan American broadcasts over WSM radio in Nashville.

Herr also discusses Milton H. Smith, who served as the companys president for an incredible thirty-two years. During his tenure, which began in the 1880s and ended in 1921, Milton Smith shaped the destiny of the Louisville & Nashville as one of Americas preeminent rail carriers. For instance, he had the foresight to establish an expansive network of rail lines throughout the Birmingham District to serve the Magic Citys fledgling iron and coal industries. During my years in the L&N Law Department, one of my colleagues was Milton H. Smith II, President Smiths grandson. The younger Milton was a distinguished gentleman with the elegant bearing and independent spirit of a bygone era. His office was furnished with wicker furniture handed down from his grandfather, and the numerous historic photographs on his walls included a broadside shot of the Pullman sleeper Milton H. Smith.

The author also mentions two colorful non-employees who left their unusual marks on the L&Ns history. The companys rail lines took on great strategic importance during the War Between the States, and Confederate general John Hunt Morgan and his raiders inflicted considerable damage on the young railroad. Further south in Alabama, the L&N suffered at the hands of railroad bandit Morris Slater, who is remembered in folk song and legend as Railroad Bill.

No history of the L&N would be complete without mentioning its famous passenger service, and Herr does not neglect that aspect of the lines historical record. At one point, the railroad held a contest to select names for its two postWorld War II streamliners. The competition attracted nearly three hundred thousand entries, and the winning names were Humming Bird and Georgian. Everyone knows that passenger trains traditionally are given distinctive names, but Herr notes that the L&N once even fielded a named fast freight train, the Silver Bullet.

This reprint is sure to be welcomed by both hardcore railfans and anyone who has a sense for the significant role the L&N played in the territory it served. The Old Reliable was a powerful railroad with a rich heritage, and its most ardent admirers have formed the L&N Railroad Historical Society, which boasts a membership of around twelve hundred. As the Kentucky Historical Society recently discovered, however, the fascination with the L&N extends far beyond the LNHS.

In 1999, CSX gave the Kentucky Railway Museum a substantial grant to cover the cost of creating a traveling L&N history exhibit. The museum created the exhibit in concert with the Kentucky Historical Society, whose curator was pleasantly surprised when, after only two weeks, the exhibit was fully booked for one year in advance. That had never happened before during the twelve-year history of the societys traveling exhibits program.

Some might question why there was no attempt to update this reprint of the fifth and final edition, which was published in March of 1964. Charlie Castner and Ron Flanary come to mind as L&N aficionados who would have been more than capable for that task. On balance, however, it seemed preferable to reprint this pure version of Herrs work, which concluded with the L&N still headquartered in Louisville and still very much in the passenger business. Agents were still deployed around the railroad in small town depots, and most of the systems rail lines remained in place and in service.

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