Metro North BL20GH No. 115.
(Lexcie, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
BROOKVILLE BL20GH DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
The Brookville BL20GH is a diesel-electric locomotive built by the Brookville Equipment Corporation. The locomotive is designed for both freight and passenger service. Brookville built 12 in 2008 for the Metro-North Railroad. The Staten Island Railway operates four nearly identical BL20G locomotives, built by Brookville in December 2008, in work service.
Design
The BL20GH is a low emissions locomotive. Originally equipped with a V12 MTU-Detroit Diesel 12V4000 engine rated at 2,250 horsepower (1,680 kW), rebuilt units now feature a Cummins QSK50 prime mover rated at 2,130 horsepower (1,590 kW). It has a separate Caterpillar engine for head end power, allowing the locomotive to be used in passenger service for branch line shuttle trains. The Metro-North locomotives are equipped with Automatic train control (ATC).
History
Brookville built a single demonstrator for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (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 originally painted in its "McGinnis" paint scheme, named after former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad president Patrick B. McGinnis. This scheme consisted 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 of the BL20GH occurred on June 9, 2008.
These locomotives are used in branch service on the Metro-North Railroad, including the Danbury Branch and Waterbury Branch. They are used on shuttle trains operating on routes where there is no third rail (such as the Upper Harlem Line, between Southeast and Wassaic stations.) They lack third-rail shoes and thus rarely operate into Grand Central Terminal.
The BL20GH locomotives began a rebuild program by MotivePower in 2019. The rebuilt units will be equipped with Cummins QSK50 prime movers, which are compliant with Tier 3 of the Environmental Protection Agency'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 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. Numbered 776–779, 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.
Brookville BL20GH Overview
Type and origin
Power type: Diesel
Builder: Brookville Equipment Corporation
Build date: 2008
Total produced: 12 (plus 4 BL20G)
Rebuilder: MotivePower
Rebuild date: 2019-present
Specifications
Configuration: AAR B-B; UIC Bo'Bo'; Commonwealth Bo-Bo
Trucks: Blomberg B
Locomotive weight: 132 tons (118 long tons; 120 t)
Fuel capacity: 2,600 US gallons (9,800 L; 2,200 imp gal)
Prime mover: MTU-Detroit Diesel 12V4000
Engine type: V12 diesel
Alternator: Kato
Generator: Caterpillar
Traction motors: D78
Cylinders: 12
Performance figures
Maximum speed: 75 mph (121 km/h)
Power output: 2,250 hp (1.68 MW)
Career
Operators: Metro-North Railroad
Road Numbers: 110–115 (MNRR); 125–130 (CDOT)
First run: June 9, 2008
