Virginian GE EL-C Electric Locomotive #135

Virginian GE EL-C Electric Locomotive #135. .

Manufacturer: General Electric, 1956 , Production era: 1955-1957 , Length: 69 feet 6 inches , Height: 15 feet 10 inches , Weight: 348,000 pounds (lbs.) , Horsepower: 3,300 , Tractive effort: 98,000 lbs. , Maximum speed: 65 miles per hour (mph)

, General Electric produced 12 EL-C locomotives, #130-141, all for the Virginian Railway. Virginian electrified its tracks with overhead electric lines between Roanoke, Virginia, and Mullins, West Virginia, in April 1925, a distance of 133.6 miles.

The EL-C is powered by a water cooled electrical device called an ignitron rectifier, which is an electron cylinder filled with mercury through which an alternating current is passed to produce direct current pulses. The design was used as a basic for Pennsylvania Railroad's E-44 units that were built from 1960 to 1963.

135 pulled coal trains from 1956 to 1962. The 12 EL-C locomotives were acquired by Norfolk and Western (N&W) Railway in the 1959 merger with the Virginian Railway.

These locomotives were removed from service in 1962 when the N&W dismantled the electrified lines in favor of an all diesel fleet. This locomotive is the only one that was painted in the schemes of all the railroads it served.

After the dieselization of N&W, the EL-Cs were sold to the New Haven Railroad for operation between New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City. Eleven of the locomotives were reclassified as EF-4s #300-#310, and the remaining unit was used for spare parts. Ten of the remaining EL-Cs survived on the Penn Central Transportation Company and later on Conrail, where they were reclassified E-33, #4601-4610. They were retired in 1891 when Conrail ended its electrified operations. Although the EL-Cs proved to be a very successful design, no mere were produced due to the small number of railroads with electric lines.