2600-2619, constructed at the Illinois Central Railroad's (IC) Paducah Shops in Paduach, Kentucky, between November 1942 and August 1943.

[1][3] The locomotives were also equipped with twelve-wheel tenders that held 20,000 US gallons (16,653 imp gal) of water and 26 tonnes (26,000 kg) of coal; a design feature that was rare on IC steam locomotives.

[1][3][4] They were able to generate 78,450 lbf (349.0 kN) of tractive effort and travel at a top speed of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), making the IC 2600's the most powerful 4-8-2 locomotives ever built.

2613 was subsequently reassigned to operate in the St. Louis Division, where many coal mines the railroad served were located.

2613 pulled the L&N's fifteen-car Centennial train from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee and return, and 850 passengers were on board.

2613 returned to Paducah with a freight train in tow, and the IC had planned to put the locomotive back into storage.

[9] A concurrent boost in coal traffic in the Kentucky Division encouraged officials to return some of their steam locomotives to service, and beginning on October 28, the No.

[9] By the end of March 1960, all steam locomotives in the Kentucky Division were put back into storage at Paducah.

[11] The Kentucky Railway Museum (KRM) of Louisville began negotiating with the IC to acquire the locomotive, with several members traveling to Chicago to meet with IC management, but the railroad was only interested in selling the 2613 for its scrap value, instead of donating it.

[11] The KRM, which had only been formed a few years prior, could not raise enough money to meet IC's demands.

[11][17][18] For unknown reasons, tenders from the 2600s remained in storage for some time, after their companion locomotives were scrapped, including that of No.