Actually I have plans to build a 4-8-6 for the LE&E in the future. Allegedly, Lima rolled the boilers for an intended order placed by the NKP, however due to dieselization and a postwar power saturation, the NKP chose instead to invest in diesels. The order was never fulfilled and as Lima-Hamilton moved forward with its merger with Baldwin in late-1949 through early 1951, tooling was quickly converted to diesel power. Unfortunately, we would never get to see what a 4-8-6 looked like off of the drawing boards, however the concept is fairly sound in my opinion.
Lesser known still is Lima's attempt to market a conversion/rebuild package for existing Berkshires to extend the firebox and boiler, essentially creating a 2-8-6 equivalent. Much like its larger cousin, these never left the drawing board, and none were ever seriously considered by any large railroads.
My LE&E, on the other hand, opts for both the conversion package and the 4-8-6 superpower locomotive, named the Ohio class. The justification would be fairly simple: while the majority of the LE&E's 100 Berkshires were more modern and refined designs based on the precedent set by the Erie and Advisory Mechanical Committee, roughly 20 or so were of the older style pioneered by the Boston and Albany. While these were augmented by acquisitions from the Boston and Maine as they retired their fleet of Berkshires in the late 1940's, the fact remained that the power was older than what was necessary. While the LE&E did roster a large number of 2-6-6-4s and 4-6-6-4s for fast freight service, the conversion to diesel power created several inefficiencies. Retirement of older steam power was progressing rapidly, while new orders of diesels were bogged down due to the builders being overloaded from all of the orders placed by railroads across the nation. The easiest stopgap was to rebuild older, yet more modern power and acquire new steam power: enter the 2-8-6 and the 4-8-6.
In short, it's my railroad, they are really cool, I want them, no I'm not going to build any for anyone else, and I have more than enough justification for my fictional road.
