Central Vermont Diesel Locomotives: History, Roster & Photos

Published: September 17, 2026

Central Vermont dieselized last among the New England railroads. Alco S-2s arrived in January 1942. Road switchers and Electro-Motive GP9s finished steam in the spring of 1957. The last steam run was April 4: 4-8-2 no. 602 on a freight. The CV in the diesel era is best remembered for its green and yellow livery, whether in CN's original livery or the later, simplified scheme.

Central Vermont GP9 4925 with southbound train 76 stopped at Essex Junction Vermont on February 11 1961

Central Vermont GP9 #4925 has southbound train #76 stopped at Essex Junction, Vermont, on February 11, 1961. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection. Class GR-17k, Electro-Motive, March 1957.

On this page: At a glance · Alco switchers and RS units · GP9s, 1956–57 · GP18s and GP38ACs · Grand Trunk Corporation to 1995 · All-time roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Central Vermont Railway. Mark CV. Parent Canadian National from January 20, 1923
First diesels	Alco S-2 7918–7919, class MS-10a, January 1942. Later 8094–8095; to Grand Trunk Western October 1967
Last steam run	April 4, 1957, 4-8-2 no. 602, freight
Builders	Alco (S-2, S-4, RS-3, RS-11). Electro-Motive (SW1200, GP9, GP18, GP38AC)
Road switchers	Four RS-3s, 1954. Fifteen RS-11s, 1956, all ex-Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific
GP9s	The CV freight engine of the diesel years. Built 1956–57, some ex-GTW. Many rebuilt GP9R 1989–92. See GP9. Photo: #4925 Essex Junction
Second generation	Two GP18s, ex-Rock Island. Twelve GP38ACs 5800–5811, ex-GTW, December 1971
Paint	Green and yellow. GP9 4924 wore a U.S. Coast Guard livery 1979–80
Successor power	New England Central from February 1995. Ex-GM&O GP38s in yellow and blue, later Genesee & Wyoming paint

Serials and dates follow the live Central Vermont roster, builder records, and the Electro-Motive GP9 production list. Information compiled September 17, 2026.

Alco first: S-2s, then RS-3s and RS-11s

The first diesels on the property were a pair of Alco S-2s, 7918 and 7919, class MS-10a, Schenectady, January 1942. They were later 8094 and 8095 and went to Grand Trunk Western in October 1967. Four S-4s followed in the 1950s: 8015 and 8027 in 1951 and 1953, 8080 and 8081 in September 1955, class MS-10j. Yard work at St. Albans and the south-end terminals was theirs. Steam still owned the road.

Four RS-3s arrived in September 1954. 1859 and 1860, serials 80747 and 80748, carried steam generators. 3041 and 3042, serials 80745 and 80746, came off Grand Trunk Western as 1861 and 1862. Fifteen RS-11s, class MR-18a 3600–3614, followed in August and September 1956. Every one of them had been Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific 3600–3614. They were 1,800-horsepower 251-engine road switchers, the last Alcos the Central Vermont rostered as a fleet. The RS-11 numbers were later reused on two GP18s.

GP9s: the locomotive that dieselized the railroad

Electro-Motive GP9s did the work the 2-10-4s and Mountains had done. The first block, 4442–4450 and 4902–4906, was built in May and June 1956 as Grand Trunk Western power (serials 21449–21462) and lettered for Central Vermont. A larger CV order followed in March 1957: 4547–4557 (serials 22836–22846) and 4923–4927 (22829–22833), with GTW 4558–4559 coming over on serials 22834–22835. Two more, 4928 and 4929 (first), serials 23995 and 23996, arrived in December 1957. #4925 at Essex Junction in 1961 is that 1957 order four years on, green and yellow, train 76 headed south.

The GP9s stayed through the paper-company years. Many were rebuilt as GP9Rs between 1989 and 1992 and renumbered into the 4600s. 4924 wore a special U.S. Coast Guard livery in 1979–80 before that rebuild. The first 4929 was wrecked in October 1972 in a head-on collision with a Boston & Maine SW1 at Belchertown, Massachusetts. A second 4929 arrived in December 1973: ex-Northern Pacific 229, Burlington Northern 1855, serial 20316, built June 1955.

Three SW1200s, 1509–1511, class GR-12j, covered what the S-2s had covered: two in April 1957 (serials 22827–22828, ex-GTW 1269–1270) and 1511 in March 1960 (serial 25743).

GP18s and twelve GP38ACs

Two GP18s filled holes in the 3600 series after the RS-11s left: 3602, serial 26934, October 1961, ex-Rock Island 1345; and 3614, serial 25451, January 1960, ex-Rock Island 1334. Second-generation road power was a dozen GP38ACs, 5800–5811, serials 37929–37940, December 1971, all ex-Grand Trunk Western. They were the last new diesels the Central Vermont lettered as its own. After 1971 the Grand Trunk Corporation treated the railroad as a paper company. Locomotives still wore CV, in the parent’s script.

February 1995

RailTex took the property in February 1995 as New England Central. The Geeps and GP38ACs that were still on the line went with the sale or back into the CN family. New England Central’s own roster—ex-Gulf, Mobile & Ohio GP38s in yellow and blue, later Genesee & Wyoming paint—is the NECR page. This table stops at the CV lettering.

All-time roster

This is an owned-and-lettered Central Vermont diesel roster. Alco and Electro-Motive are listed separately. The Alco dates are builder completion, not retirement. GP9 rebuilds to GP9R are in the notes. Grand Trunk Western and Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific engines that only passed through keep their home-road stories on those pages.

By model

Model	Numbers	Qty	Dates	Notes
Alco S-2	7918–7919 (later 8094–8095)	2	1/1942	Class MS-10a. To GTW 10/1967
Alco S-4	8015, 8027, 8080–8081	4	1951–55	Class MS-10j
Alco RS-3	1859–1860, 3041–3042	4	9/1954	1859–1860 steam-generator equipped. 3041–3042 ex-GTW 1861–1862
Alco RS-11	3600–3614	15	8–9/1956	Class MR-18a. All ex-DW&P 3600–3614
EMD SW1200	1509–1511	3	4/1957, 3/1960	Class GR-12j. 1509–1510 ex-GTW 1269–1270
EMD GP9	4442–4450, 4547–4559, 4902–4906, 4923–4929	see unit table	1956–57	Some ex-GTW. Many to GP9R 4600s, 1989–92. Photo: #4925
EMD GP18	3602, 3614	2	1960–61	Ex-Rock Island 1345, 1334. Reused RS-11 numbers
EMD GP38AC	5800–5811	12	12/1971	Ex-GTW 5800–5811

American Locomotive Company (unit roster)

Model	Numbers	Class	Serial	Built	Notes
RS-3	1859–1860	—	80747, 80748	9/1954	Steam-generator equipped
RS-3	3041–3042	—	80745–80746	9/1954	Ex-GTW 1861–1862
RS-11	3600	MR-18a	81934	8/1956	Ex-DW&P 3600
RS-11	3601	MR-18a	81935	8/1956	Ex-DW&P 3601
RS-11	3602	MR-18a	81936	8/1956	Ex-DW&P 3602
RS-11	3603	MR-18a	81937	1956	Ex-DW&P 3603
RS-11	3604	MR-18a	81938	8/1956	Ex-DW&P 3604
RS-11	3605	MR-18a	81939	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3605
RS-11	3606	MR-18a	81940	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3606
RS-11	3607	MR-18a	81941	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3607
RS-11	3608	MR-18a	81942	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3608
RS-11	3609	MR-18a	82026	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3609
RS-11	3610	MR-18a	82027	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3610
RS-11	3611	MR-18a	82028	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3611
RS-11	3612	MR-18a	82029	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3612
RS-11	3613	MR-18a	82030	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3613
RS-11	3614	MR-18a	82031	9/1956	Ex-DW&P 3614
S-2	7918–7919	MS-10a	69653–69654	1/1942	Renumbered 8094–8095. To GTW 10/1967
S-4	8015, 8027	MS-10j	79227, 80467	10/1951, 5/1953
S-4	8080–8081	MS-10j	81400–81401	9/1955

Electro-Motive Division (unit roster)

Model	Number	Class	Serial	Built	Notes
SW1200	1509–1511	GR-12j	22827–22828, 25743	4/1957, 3/1960	Ex-GTW 1269–1270; 1511
GP18	3602	—	26934	10/1961	Ex-Rock Island 1345
GP18	3614	—	25451	1/1960	Ex-Rock Island 1334
GP9	4442	GR-17d	21449	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1768
GP9	4443	GR-17d	21450	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1769
GP9	4444	GR-17d	21451	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1770
GP9	4445	GR-17d	21452	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1771
GP9	4446	GR-17d	21453	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1772
GP9	4447	GR-17d	21454	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1773
GP9	4448	GR-17d	21455	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1774
GP9	4449	GR-17d	21456	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1775
GP9	4450	GR-17d	21457	5/1956	Ex-GTW 1776
GP9	4547	GR-17j	22836	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4602, 1989
GP9	4548	GR-17j	22837	3/1957
GP9	4549	GR-17j	22838	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4623, 1991
GP9	4550	GR-17j	22839	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4607, 1989
GP9	4551	GR-17j	22840	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4605, 1989
GP9	4552	GR-17j	22841	3/1957
GP9	4553	GR-17j	22842	3/1957
GP9	4554	GR-17j	22843	3/1957
GP9	4555	GR-17j	22844	3/1957
GP9	4556	GR-17j	22845	3/1957
GP9	4557	GR-17j	22846	3/1957
GP9	4558	GR-17j	22834	3/1957	Ex-GTW 4558; rebuilt as GP9R 4613, 1990
GP9	4559	GR-17j	22835	3/1957	Ex-GTW 4559
GP9	4902	GR-17e	21458	6/1956	Ex-GTW 4902; rebuilt as GP9R 4633, 1992
GP9	4903	GR-17e	21459	6/1956	Ex-GTW 4903; rebuilt as GP9R 4629, 1992
GP9	4904	GR-17e	21460	6/1956	Ex-GTW 4904; rebuilt as GP9R 4610, 1992
GP9	4905	GR-17e	21461	6/1956	Ex-GTW 4905; rebuilt as GP9R 4616, 1992
GP9	4906	GR-17e	21462	6/1956	Ex-GTW 4906; rebuilt as GP9R 4627, 1992
GP9	4923	GR-17k	22829	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4612, 1990
GP9	4924	GR-17k	22830	3/1957	U.S. Coast Guard livery 1979–80. Rebuilt as GP9R 4617, 1990
GP9	4925	GR-17k	22831	3/1957	Photo: Essex Junction, Feb. 11, 1961. Rebuilt as GP9R 4609, 1990
GP9	4926	GR-17k	22832	3/1957
GP9	4927	GR-17k	22833	3/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4618, 1991
GP9	4928	GR-17s	23995	12/1957	Rebuilt as GP9R 4620, 1991
GP9	4929 (1st)	GR-17s	23996	12/1957	Wrecked October 1972, head-on with a Boston & Maine SW1 at Belchertown, Massachusetts
GP9	4929 (2nd)	GR-17s	20316	6/1955	Ex-Northern Pacific 229 / Burlington Northern 1855. Acquired December 1973
GP38AC	5800–5811	—	37929–37940	12/1971	Ex-GTW 5800–5811

Sources

Drury, George H. Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, p. 103. Last steam April 4, 1957; last New England railroad to dieselize
Electro-Motive GP9 production roster. CV 4923–4927 serials 22829–22833, March 1957; 4928–4929 serials 23995–23996, December 1957; GTW 4442–4450 / 4902–4906 serials 21449–21462
Hofsommer, Don L. Grand Trunk Corporation: Canadian National Railways in the United States, 1971–1992. GP38AC era; paper company
American-Rails.com: Central Vermont company; New England Central; GP9 type; RS-3 type; Canadian National diesel

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