For coal traffic on their main line between Roanoke, Virginia and Mullens, West Virginia, the Virginian ordered four heavy two-section electric locomotives after World War II from General Electric. They had to haul 6,000-ton trains on a 1.3 percent incline with 35 mph. With an output of 5,100 kW or 6,840 hp, they had the same power with two sections as the preceding EL-3A built in 1925 had with three sections. They were used alongside the EL-3A until around 1960, when the Virginian merged with the Norfolk & Western and stopped all electric traction.

Each section stood on four two-axle trucks which had been combined to two frames. One transformer per section transformed the 11,000 Volt alternating current to a lower voltage and supplied a motor-generator. This was connected to two DC generators which supplied the eight traction motors per section. Both sections were semi-permanently coupled and electrically connected, but in theory could also operate on their own. But both sections of each locomotive were not identical, since one only had one pantograph and the other had a second one on the rear.