VGN | Locomotives

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Virginian Railway - VGN

Virginian Railway Diesel and Electric Locomotives

Below is a diesel and electric locomotive roster for the Virginian Railway (VGN), organized by manufacturer and then by model. This roster includes the number of units that VGN owned for each model. For further details, there are numerous websites, books, and archived reference materials that include more information on each locomotive.

The Virginian Railway was a highly successful coal-hauling railroad that relied on both electrification and heavy steam power for most of its history. Dieselization came late to the VGN and was not comprehensive, with the railroad using diesel-electric locomotives alongside its electric fleet rather than replacing it entirely. The VGN uniquely chose Fairbanks-Morse almost exclusively for its road diesels, contrasting with many other railroads that favored EMD or ALCO. 

Diesel locomotives

Fairbanks-Morse (FM)

  • H16-44: 40 locomotives.
    • These 1,600 horsepower road switchers were the first road diesels purchased by the VGN, arriving between 1954 and 1957.
    • The locomotives were affectionately known as “Baby Train Masters”.
  • H24-66 (“Train Master”): 25 locomotives.
    • These 2,400 horsepower six-axle units were the most powerful road switchers of their time, and the Virginian put them to work in the coal fields.
    • Used primarily on the Princeton-Deepwater main, these powerful units proved a good fit for the VGN’s heavy tonnage requirements.
    • They were delivered between 1954 and 1957 and were the last new diesels purchased by the VGN before the Norfolk and Western (N&W) merger. 

General Electric (GE)

  • 44-tonner: 1 locomotive.
    • This small, lightweight industrial switcher was a unique addition to the roster, purchased for service in the Suffolk, VA, area.
    • It was the only non-FM diesel acquired by the Virginian. 

Electric locomotives

American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and Westinghouse Electric

  • EL-3A (Class 105): 36 locomotives (10 three-unit sets, 6 single units).
    • Built between 1925 and 1926 for coal haulage over the electrified route from Elmore to Roanoke.
    • These were some of the largest and most powerful electric locomotives at the time of delivery.
    • The ten three-unit sets were nicknamed “Squareheads” by the staff. 

General Electric (GE)

  • EL-2B (Class 125): 4 locomotives (semi-permanently coupled as 8 units).
    • These large motor-generator units were built in 1948 to help with increased traffic after World War II.
    • At 150 feet 8 inches long, they were the largest two-unit electric locomotives used in North America.
    • Capable of producing 6,800 horsepower, they were retired and scrapped after the N&W merger.
  • EL-C (E-33): 12 locomotives.
    • These were the most advanced electric locomotives the VGN owned, built between 1955 and 1957.
    • After the N&W merger, they were sold to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1963.

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For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org