In 1954, the late David P. Morgan, editor of Trains Magazine, spent a few weeks on the L&N Railroad gathering data for a major story for the magazine. “This is Louisville & Nashville” appeared in the March 1955 issue, and this is one of the shots taken by the magazine’s staff photographer, Bill Akin. The location is the helper pocket at Bailey’s Switch, KY, a few miles west of Barbourville, on the coal-hauling Cumberland Valley Division. The oncoming train powered by RS-3 is a local headed for Corbin. The pusher today is Lima-built 1980, which was only five years old at the time, and already destined for an early appointment with the scrapper. The gent taking in the “Emma’s” big 22,000-gallon tender is none other than Morgan himself.
