train geeks.

So I sent a friend of mine these two photos:





And I get back this very interesting reply from my friend Ed:

Are these in chronological order, which would imply that the train was being pushed by locomotives at the rear?

Both of the locomotives are antiques as diesels go, but the one closer to the passenger cars is particularly interesting to those who care. It's a BL2, EMD's (GM's) attempt to produce a branch-line locomotive in the late 1940's. It pretty much flopped, but it led to the GP7 and GP9 series of roadswitchers that became so ubiquitous in the next decade. The other locomotive is an F7/F9. The F, BL and GP series generally shared mechanicals and electricals but packaged them in quite different carbodies.

The BL2 appears to be numbered 82, which agrees with one of WM's orignal BL2s according to an old roster. IIRC, this one is not really ex-WM but one from Bangor & Aroostok that survived longer and was repainted/renumbered.

Ed

Train Geeks.