Conrail's E33 electrics began their lives as Virginian Railway locomotives built in late-1956. In 1959, the Virginian merged into the Norfolk & Western, which acquired and renumbered the former VGN E33's into the NW roster. Three years later, in 1962, Norfolk & Western de-electrified the VGN trackage.Having no use for the electric locomotives, NW sold their E33's to the New Haven, which renumbered and repainted the units into the NH roster. Of course, the Penn Central merger in 1968 meant that the E33's would be repainted and renumbered a fourth time.
When Conrail was formed in 1976, the E33's took on their fifth and final renumbering and repainting. Since none of the E33 owners wanted to spend the time and money to strip the paint off the locomotives before repainting them, many E33's showed New Haven orange and other heralds through the black Penn Central paint and even the blue Conrail paint for those lucky enough to be repainted blue.
Comprehensive E33 Roster
The roster below is comprehensive for Conrail's E33 when they arrived from Conrail's predecessors on April 1, 1976 until their last day of service on Conrail in the early-1980's. The roster includes each unit's first disposition when known.
Builder's
CR # Former Prior Prev: 1 Prev: 2 Built Number Removed Disposition
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4601 PC 4601 NH 301 NW 232 VGN 132 10/56 32545 ??/??/?? Illinois Railway Museum
4602 PC 4602 NH 302 NW 233 VGN 133 11/56 32546 ??/??/??
4603 PC 4603 NH 303 NW 234 VGN 134 11/56 32547 ??/??/??
4604 PC 4604 NH 304 NW 235 VGN 135 11/56 32548 ??/??/?? VA Museum of Trans.
4605 PC 4605 NH 305 NW 236 VGN 136 12/56 32549 ??/??/??
4606 PC 4606 NH 306 NW 237 VGN 137 12/56 32550 ??/??/??
4607 PC 4607 NH 307 NW 238 VGN 138 12/56 32551 ??/??/??
4608 PC 4608 NH 308 NW 239 VGN 139 01/57 32552 ??/??/??
4609 PC 4609 NH 309 NW 240 VGN 140 01/57 32553 ??/??/??
4610 PC 4610 NH 310 NW 241 VGN 141 02/57 32554 ??/??/??