Sharing a boiler and many other parts with its more popular sister the K4, the Pennsylvania L1 was standard freight power for the Standard Railroad of the World. And with 525 of them, they were a common sight indeed! Although larger and more specialized locomotives would take the spotlight in later decades, the majority of L1s continued to serve to the last days of Pennsy steam. From the Delmarva Peninsula to Rose Lake Yard in East St. Louis, from trimming the westbound hump bowl in Enola to “snapping” passenger trains up the east slope to Gallitzen, the L1 could be found in just about every corner and every sort of assignment on the vast system. The Pennsy was also fond of pairing the “Lollipops” with other power to balance starting tractive effort and higher speed mainline running. The appearance of the locomotives changed little over the years however, with the addition of power reverse and stokers being the biggest changes. And a good number remained “hand bombers” their entire lives to the chagrin of firemen. Even the front-end revisions following WWII eluded a good number of the class. But there were some notable exceptions including some experiments with boosters, oil burners, early Trainphone antenna systems (reflected on #1369 here) and even one converted to a water tube boiler. The Pennsy sold a handful of the locomotives to other lines in the 1940s. Three went to the Santa Fe in 1945 where they were converted to oil burners and ran with Santa Fe tenders until retirement in 1947. The DT&I (owned by the PRR at the time), Lehigh & New England, Montour and Cambria & Indiana also picked up two or three each. One locomotive from the group, No. 520, was selected to represent the class in the railroad’s historical collection and is preserved today at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. New to the Lionel roster, the L1 has been extensively upgraded with LEGACY and Bluetooth control as well as Lionel’s RailSounds system, whistle steam, and all of the other great features you’ve come to expect as “standard” in a Lionel locomotive. Pennsylvania locomotives are offered in both “Prewar” and “Postwar” versions typical of the years before and after WWII, although many of the locomotives retained the earlier look into the 1950s. No. 1369 features the experimental Trainphone antenna application. Our Santa Fe version includes a brass tender replicating their appearance in service. There’s no job too large or small for this landmark locomotive - and no reason not to add one to your roster!