Louisville and Nashville 2-8-4s

[SPer]

Did the Louisville and Nashville officially dubbed their 2-8-4s the Big Emma Type. why.

[Overmod]

Officially they were class M-1. 

Trains Magazine covered where the nickname came from (p.25, December 1972) -- someone on the KY subdivision, seeing one for the first time in 1942.  (Elsewhere it appears the nickname 'Big Jack' was applied to this class, too, around Louisville ... but Emma fits so well!)

[ACY Tom]

That nickname was applied INCORRECTLY to B&O's EM-1 2-8-8-4's in a video by Revelation Video. Since the term was not used by B&O railroaders when those engines were in service, I have always cringed when I've heard it in any context other than L&N

[daveklepper]

If my memory is correct.. L&N 2-8-4's were in two classes, and the operating employees called one class "stripes," and I think the other, "yellow-jackets."

[KCSfan]

Stripes and Yellow Jackets were the nicknames of the NC&StL 4-8-4's. The official name given them by the railroad was Dixies.

Mark

[Overmod]

daveklepper

If my memory is correct.. L&N 2-8-4's were in two classes, and the operating employees called one class "stripes," and I think the other, "yellow-jackets."

As noted, those were NC&StL 4-8-4s, and yes, they came in two classes (J2 and J3) -- there were also (semi)streamlined and unstreamlined versions.  Note that 'Dixie' was intended as the Whyte-code name for a 4-8-4, as the usual 'Northern' was... shall we say, not exactly looked upon with favor, sir...  ;-}

Obligatory plug:  one of the J3s is preserved in good condition at Centennial Park in Nashville, and there are ongoing plans (if a bit desultory most of the time) to put her in operating condition.  The principal 'difficulty' (I call it good common sense) is to raise the full potential cost, including liability insurance. that would put the locomotive back in the park in at least as good condition as now... regardless of anything that happens in restoration or afterward.