| Brookville BL20GH | |
| Powertype: | Diesel |
| Builder: | Brookville Equipment Corporation |
| Builddate: | 2008 |
| Totalproduction: | 12 (plus 4 BL20G) |
| Rebuilder: | MotivePower |
| Rebuilddate: | 2019-present |
| Aarwheels: | B-B |
| Uicclass: | Bo'Bo' |
| Britishclass: | Bo-Bo |
| Trucks: | Blomberg B |
| Locoweight: | 132ST |
| Primemover: | MTU-Detroit Diesel 12V4000 |
| Enginetype: | V12 diesel |
| Alternator: | Kato |
| Generator: | Caterpillar |
| Tractionmotors: | D78 |
| Cylindercount: | 12 |
| Maxspeed: | 75mph |
| Poweroutput: | 22502NaN2 |
| Operator: | Metro-North Railroad |
| Fleetnumbers: |
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| Firstrundate: | June 9, 2008 |
| Notes: | [1] |
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.[2] [3]
The BL20GH is a low emissions locomotive. Originally equipped with a V12 MTU-Detroit Diesel 12V4000 engine rated at 2250hp, rebuilt units now feature a Cummins QSK50 prime mover rated at 2130hp. It has a separate Caterpillar engine for head end power, allowing the locomotive to be used in passenger service for branch line shuttle trains.[4] The Metro-North locomotives are equipped with Automatic train control (ATC).
A nearly identical locomotive, known as the BL20G, operates on the Staten Island Railway.[2] Four were built by Brookville Corporation in December 2008.[3] 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 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] The rebuilt units, designated as BL20GHM, are equipped with Cummins QSK50 prime movers, which are compliant with Tier 3 of the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for locomotive emissions. All units owned by ConnDOT were repainted into a paint scheme similar to the ones used on its CT Rail services.