The L&N introduced the "Pan-American" on December 5, 1921. A section of the train diverged at Bowling Green, Kentucky to serve Memphis, Tennessee. At the outset the train carried both sleepers and coaches, and was noteworthy for its all-steel construction in an era when wood heavyweight coaches were still common. The name honored the substantial traffic the L&N carried to and from the seaports on the Gulf of Mexico. It covered the from Cincinnati to New Orleans in 26 hours, soon shortened to exactly 24 hours.