The Brookville BL20GH is a

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conv ...

built by the

Brookville Equipment Corporation Brookville Equipment Corporation, based in Brookville, Pennsylvania, United States, manufactures railroad locomotives for industrial and light capacity switching needs. The company also builds and restores streetcars. The company used to be kn ...

. The locomotive is designed for both freight and passenger service. Brookville built 12 in 2008 for the

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...

. The

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Trans ...

operates four nearly identical BL20G locomotives, built by Brookville in December 2008, in work service.

Design

The BL20GH is a low emissions locomotive equipped with a

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

MTU-Detroit Diesel 12V4000 engine rated at . It has a separate

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

engine for

head end power In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, p ...

, allowing the locomotive to be used in passenger service for

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

shuttle trains. The Metro-North locomotives are equipped with

Automatic train control Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...

(ATC).

History

Brookville built a single demonstrator for the

Connecticut Department of Transportation The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...

(CDOT); CDOT and the Metro-North combined to order eleven more in 2008, for a total of twelve locomotives. CDOT owns six of the locomotives, which it painted in its "McGinnis" paint scheme, named after former

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

president Patrick B. McGinnis. This scheme consists of a black nose, with a white stripe and an orange rear, with white New-Haven lettering overlapping the orange rear. The first public run occurred on June 9, 2008. These locomotives are used in branch service on the

, including the

Danbury Branch The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line from downtown Norwalk, Connecticut north to Danbury, mostly single-tracked. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger ...

and

Waterbury Branch The Waterbury Branch is a branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, running north from a junction in the Devon section of Milford to Waterbury, Connecticut. Originally built as the Naugatuck Railroad, it once continued north to Winste ...

. They are used on shuttle trains operating on routes where there is no third rail (such as the Upper

Harlem Line The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

, between

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and

Wassaic station Wassaic station is a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line, located in Amenia, New York. It is the northern terminal of the Harlem Line. Trains leave for New York City every two hours, and about every 30 minutes during rush ...

s.) They lack third-rail shoes and thus rarely operate into

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

. The BL20GH locomotives began a rebuild program by

MotivePower MotivePower, Inc. (MPI) is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wabtec, and traces its history back to the MK Rail division of Morrison-Knudsen. History Morrison-Knudsen establ ...

in 2019. The rebuilt units will be equipped with

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

QSK50 prime movers, which are compliant with Tier 3 of the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

's standards for locomotive emissions. Following rebuild, they will be reclassified as BL20GHM. All units owned by ConnDOT were repainted into a paint scheme similar to the ones used on its

CT Rail CT Rail, stylized as CT''rail'', is the brand for commuter rail services overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in the U.S. state of Connecticut, with some service extending into Massachusetts. CTDOT oversees two lines: ...

services.

Variants

A nearly identical locomotive, known as the BL20G, operates on the Staten Island Railway. Four were built by Brookville Corporation in December 2008. These locomotives lack the head-end power generator and the associated ventilation grates of the BL20GH, and thus they are only used in work train service unless performing a rescue of their R44 EMU's.

References

External links

Description of the BL20GH
{{Green Locos B-B locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States EPA Tier 2-compliant locomotives of the United States Brookville locomotives Passenger locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 2008