NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — After two years of restoration work using an all-volunteer labor force, the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson is close to beginning operations with one of its two former Bangor & Aroostook Railroad BL2s.
BL2s No. 52 and No. 56 came to the museum in June of 2021 after private owner Ken Davenport purchased them during an Iowa Pacific Holdings bankruptcy sale. The locomotives had been used on the Saratoga & North Creek Railway in passenger service in upstate New York. The locomotives, built in April 1949, are among only 59 of the model (including the prototype BL1) built by Electro-Motive Division for 10 railroads between 1947 and 1949.
While the “BL” designation stands for Branch Line, it could well be an abbreviation for “blunder,” since the design never caught on, but proved to be a bridge between the F-unit style of carbody and the road-switcher design introduced with popular GP7.
On Saturday, July 15, Travis Hunt stood in the cab of No. 52 as Josh Biggers moved the throttle on the control stand as they worked on tracing an electrical issue preventing a contactor from making a connection to supply power to the traction motors. The problem is one of the last issues that needs to be addressed.
“No. 52 ran when we got her on the property,” said Kyle Flanigan, secretary to the museum board of directors. “We began fixing things from a lack of maintenance while in Iowa Pacific ownership.
“We pulled the radiators once she got here because one was leaking. We decided to get both rebuilt with new cores done by Indiana Radiator. We figured if one was bad, the other was close behind.”
Flanigan and Hunt both understand why the locomotive never had many buyers. The design of the cramped rear area of the engine room has proved to be a nightmare for the volunteers who have spent hours removing and reinstalling radiator cores and power assemblies. Unlike locomotive designs since the GP7, doors do not provide access to the engine. Most work requires part to be lifted through the roof.
“I’d love to meet the guy who designed that,” said Flanigan.
No. 56 sits outside awaiting its turn at a return to service. When it is repaired, the two units will become the only active pair of BL2s.
“We do not have any immediate plans to work on 56,” Flanigan says. “We will get to it when time allows.” The locomotive sustained freeze damage from not being properly drained during its time at the Saratoga & North Creek, he says.
Both locomotives remain in the Delaware & Hudson-inspired Saratoga & North Creek paint scheme. However, the lettering on No. 52 has been carefully removed in preparation for Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum markings.
Congratulations on the progress you made. I visited your property several times as I have relatives in North Judson. It has been at least s 7 years since the last visit.
Thank you for your skills, hard work and sweat!
Worked on them both to one degree or another in North Creek. Thank you for not letting them rot.