ABOVE: Saratoga & North Creek No. 52 was paired up with former Arizona & Eastern E8 during the first season of service on the North Creek Branch, making for quite the “odd cou- ple.” A second BL2 was being prepared for the S&NC, but the project was placed on the back burner while parent Iowa Pacific shuffled its motive power deck amongst its large family of railroad lines around the country. CHRIS STILSON PHOTO LEFT: Restored Monon BL2 No. 32 heads up the afternoon excursion train at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Ky., on July 21, 2011. The Monon Railroad ros- tered nine of these unique diesels, and No. 32 is the only survivor of the fleet. The black-and- gold colors honor Purdue University, an Indi- ana institution in Monon’s home territory. CHARLES BUCCOLA PHOTO
beginning simply because it did not have the right mix of design, engineer- ing or mechanical features? Maybe so, but considering the contributions it made to the industry, it’s hard to judge that now. Granted, it lacked full-length walkways that proved the success of the GP7/GP9 series. In talking with some of the Bangor & Aroostook rail-
roaders, they were not happy with the location of some of the heavy compo- nents within the engine compartment on the BL2 as they were hard to main- tain and approach during the course of a maintenance cycle.
In the end, less than five dozen BL2s were made, which in all probability was a disappointment to many, but at the
time, few realized its influence on fu- ture generations of the diesel locomotive we see on modern railroads today.
Stan Trzoniec is an outdoor writer and photographer who specializes in articles on the outdoors, photography and model railroads. Visit his web site at
www.outdoorphotographics.com
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