The South Louisville Shops
Birthplace of L&N No. 2132
ON A SUNNY SATURDAY in August 1980, more than 25,000 visitors flocked to the South Louisville Shops open house, climaxing a three-month celebration marking the diamond jubilee of Louisville & Nashville’s major shop facility. Featured displays included Clinchfield Railroad steam locomotive No. 1 (a stand-in for the hundreds of steamers that went through the Shops), two vintage diesels — L&N E6 No. 770 and Monon BL2 No. 32 — and L&N U23B No. 2803. The GE locomotive had been rebuilt by shop forces after a wreck, sporting a special 75th anniversary logo incorporated into its Family Lines paint scheme.
The Shops being celebrated were constructed between 1902 and 1905 to replace antiquated facilities downtown near Union Station. When the facility was completed in 1905, it was one of the largest railroad shop complexes in North America. As was a common business model among large railroads a century ago, the 35-building complex occupying 55 acres was largely self-sufficient. The Shops could do it all — foundry, forge, carpentry, and more — to provide locomotives and cars to serve on the railroad. L&N’s primary rail yard and roundhouse serving Louisville were built adjacent to the Shops. In March 1904, the Louisville Evening Post carried the headline that “South Louisville Shops will be the largest in the South and may employ 3,500 men.” Over the years that number grew to around 4,000 employees, who daily answered the call of the shop whistle. While shops at other locales on L&N’s system also serviced equipment, South Louisville remained the paramount facility.
Between 1905 to 1923, 400 new steam locomotives were constructed by L&N in the Shops. In the first year of full operation, management called upon the Shops to produce a quintet of H-23 2-8-0s similar to a Baldwin product received in 1903. Next up were four K-1 Pacifics similar to five prototypes obtained from Rogers in 1905. Over six dozen 2-8-0s and 4-6-2s were rolled out in its first five years.
The construction of new locomotives hit full stride in the second decade of the 20th century under the leadership of Ernest O. Rollings Sr. and Millard F. Cox Sr. Rollings was assigned as master mechanic in 1910. Mechanical engineer Cox, previously with Richmond Locomotive Works, joined L&N in 1911. They and their staff designed and built new locomotives of four different wheel arrangements.
Their first designs were classes H-28 and H-29 Consolidations, of which 94 were home built through 1914. These husky 2-8-0s were designed to handle mainline freight.
Turning to L&N’s passenger service, the team designed, and Shops constructed, 63 K-3 and K-4 Pacifics between 1912 and 1922. Traffic demands of World War I led L&N management to call for accelerated delivery of new locomotives. Demonstrating the prowess of the Shops, K-4 Pacific No. 238 was assembled in a five-day period. Beginning with components on Monday, Feb. 4, 1918, shop crews completed assembly on Friday, Feb. 8, and the locomotive headed for the roundhouse on Saturday.
The largest, heaviest locomotives constructed at South Louisville were 96 Class J-1 and J-2 Mikados, built from 1914 to 1921. The first of their wheel arrangement on the L&N, the 2-8-2s were designed to haul L&N’s heavy coal trains.
For yard and terminal work, the C-1 class 0-8-0 went from the drafting table to the shop floor, 34 being built from 1915 to 1923. The ini
tial group of eight merited coverage in Railway Age Gazette of 1916, including praise of their “ingenious power reverse gear” invented by Cox. A group of 10 0-8-0s, one of which was No. 2132, were the final new locomotives built by L&N’s Shops; the program ended in 1923. Thereafter, all new locomotives came from outside builders, the Shops focusing on heavy repairs. L&N 2-8-4 No. 1976 was the last steam locomotive to receive heavy repairs in 1952.
The Shops were equally capable of building and repairing rolling stock. A new steel-car shop opened in 1914 providing the capability to construct all-steel cars. Thousands of freight and passenger cars were produced in the years that followed. Many of these cycled back through the shops for maintenance or complete rebuilding.
Over the decades, the Shops were enlarged and improved to keep up with technology. A new diesel shop was completed in December 1948, then enlarged in 1951, as South Louisville continued its leadership in locomotive maintenance. In 1975 the diesel maintenance area received a major modernization known as the “Spot System” to expedite locomotive maintenance. An update and expansion of the freight car department in the 1960s enhanced repair and construction of freight cars.
But the key factor of the Shops successes was the people rather than the buildings they worked in. Well into the diesel era, the job title “boilermaker” was not an anachronism at South Louisville. When famed Civil War locomotive The General arrived for restoration in 1961, many experienced steam mechanics were still on hand to carry out the work on the 4-4-0. Across town, the Kentucky Railway Museum also benefitted from expert help. Several boilermakers were dispatched to the museum’s site to assist with the hydrostatic testing of L&N Pacific No. 152 when it was restored to operation by the Museum in the mid-1980s.
The cadre of craftsmen — boilermakers, machinists, blacksmiths, carmen, carpenters, electricians, painters, pipefitters, upholsterers, draftsmen, and laborers — included family members spanning generations. For example, E. O. Rollings Sr., previously mentioned, served as superintendent of the Shops until 1948. At the time of his retirement, his son, Curtis Rollings, was assistant superintendent. Another son, Ernest O. Rollings Jr., later became shop superintendent until his retirement in 1976.
David Orr (assistant superintendent of motive power) recalled that families were a factor in shop life when nepotism rules were not so strict. It was common to have children, cousins, aunts, and uncles working in various crafts thus creating a bond for job security and loyalty to the company. He mentioned, as an example, the Gambrell family. Three brothers had worked in the shop, three sons and a grandson came later in various crafts in addition to other relatives who worked at other locations on the L&N. Apprentice programs for each shop craft ensured that skill sets would be passed on to each new generation. South Louisville was known for its opportunities to encourage family social life, having a co-op club, softball teams, bowling league, fishing club, square dancers, musicians, and even a chorus.
Although some workers came from miles away, neighborhoods surrounding the Shops were heavily populated by L&N employees. The Shops presence could be felt and heard throughout the neighborhood. Machinist Charlie DeWitt recalled noting that you could set your clocks by the shop whistle.
From its opening through the diesel era, thousands of men and women had worked in the Shops. By 1980, employment had declined to about 1,600 people. Coincidently, within weeks of the diamond jubilee celebration, the merger of L&N-parent Seaboard Coast Line Industries with Chessie System had been approved, forming CSX Transportation. In 1987, CSX announced it would close the Louisville locomotive repair shops, eliminating 800 jobs. On Oct. 14, 1987, shop forces gathered around former L&N SD40-2 No. 3565 (then-CSX No. 8193), the last locomotive to be repaired at South Louisville. The move of locomotive maintenance was completed in 1988; car repair operations also ended that year. Machinist DeWitt said that after his final day of work, he changed clothes in the same building where his grandfather had changed clothes, picked up his paycheck, and turned out the lights for the last time.
The shutdown was completed in 1990, the buildings demolished in 1993-94.
Today, the property once occupied by the Shops and yard is the site of University of Louisville’s Cardinal Stadium. Opened in 1998, the 60,800-seat venue hosts Cardinal football, rock concerts, and other events. Marking a half hour before a football game and each time the home team scores, a mighty blast is sounded from the shop whistle that for decades had called the Shop forces to work.