The Virginian Railway EL-C Rectifiers

The Virginian Railway electrification project was one of the most unique operational practices in eastern Appalachian railroading until it was shutdown in 1962. In terms of the railroad industry’s history the Virginian Railway was a very late entry, as its original main line was not completed until 1909 connecting Deepwater, West Virginia in the heart of Appalachian coal country with Norfolk, Virginia and the tidewater ports. The railroad was the dream of Henry Rogers and William Page, and while they were harassed and hassled by the larger railroads that did not want more competition, particularly for the rich coal traffic the region provided, they completed their railroad nonetheless.

In 1958 the VGN would take delivery of its final motors; 12 Ignitron rectifiers (also from GE) designated class EL-C. Even more contemporary than the EL-2B design the EL-Cs featured the now-classic diesel road-switcher design (and accompanying cab design) with a C-C wheel arrangement (i.e., six powered axles in total). The EL-Cs were rated at 3,300 horsepower and delivered 98,500 pounds of tractive effort.

As a side note, the EL-Cs had a very interesting history. They lasted a mere year under VGN ownership as the Norfolk & Western purchased the railroad in 1959 and shutdown the Virginian Railway electrification in 1962, pulling up one of its two main lines (the railroad’s line essentially paralleled the N&W’s) and used the VGN’s route in conjunction with its own for a double-track, eastbound-westbound configuration. The EL-Cs thus went on to be purchased by the New Haven which reclassified them as EF-4s for use in freight service.

The New Haven went on to be folded into the Penn Central, where they were again reclassified as E33s. Of course, the ill-fated Penn Central lasted not even a decade before its monumental collapse and bankruptcy forced the government to create the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), which began operations in the spring of 1976. The few that remained in service under Conrail remained classified as E33s until the carrier shutdown electrified operations in the early 1980s, earning the EL-Cs a unique status of being owned and operated by five different Class Is!

While the Virginian was never a large railroad and lasted a mere 50 years as an independent company it was an extremely well managed and profitable carrier that gains its distinctiveness from operating an almost entirely electrified system. Most of the VGN’s electric locomotives have since been scrapped (including most of its locomotive fleet in general) but at least one still survives, EL-C #133 which resides at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

For more reading on the Virginian Railway’s EL-C rectifiers (and its operations in general) please consider Virginian Railway In Color from William McClure and Jeremy Plant which gives an excellent pictorial history of the railroad during its final independent years in the 1950s.

And, for more reading about the Virginian's electrification, and other electrics in general consider Electric Locomotives from Brian Solomon. Not only does the book give a nice overview about the VGN's electrified operations it also covers American electric locomotive technology in general. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing these books please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".