 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1918 |
| Founder | L. A. Leathers |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Rick Graham(President) |
| Products | underground haulage equipment,locomotives and mass transit applications |
Number of employees | approx. 300 (2012)[1] |
| Website | www.brookvillecorp.com/ |
Brookville Equipment Corporation, based inBrookville,Pennsylvania,United States, manufacturesrailroadlocomotives for industrial and light capacity switching needs. The company also builds and restoresstreetcars. The company was formerly known as theBrookville Locomotive Company.
The company began in 1918 by installing flanged railroad wheels onFord trucks (Road–rail vehicle). The company soon began building gasoline-powered locomotives of their own followingWorld War I. Brookville's locomotives were the first to include planetary drive axles rather than chain drives.
In 2007, BEC unveiled its CoGeneration[clarification needed] locomotives with up to 2,100 horsepower (1,600 kW), generated through the use of three low-emission diesel engines. The use of three clean-burningEPA Tier-3 engines offers a "Power on Demand" feature where engines come on-line as power needs are realized. This feature reduces emissions and fuel consumption. Individual water-cooledIGBT electronic switches for eachtraction motor improves rail adhesion.
Brookville manufactures equipment used inmining,tunneling, and industrial and switching applications. In 2008, Brookville built its firstroad switchers for theMetro-North Railroad. The locomotives are given the model designation ofBL20-GH.
BEC's Railwalker re-railing devices can also put its locomotives back on-track without the risk of injury to the operator.
The company began manufacturingtrucks forstreetcars in 2003 – for use in vintage-style cars being newly built by theNew Orleans Regional Transit Authority – and since 2002 it has had a streetcar division, working mainly on restoration, refurbishment and remanufacturing of existing streetcars.[1] The first such contract was one to rebuild 18PCC streetcars forSEPTA Route 15 inPhiladelphia.[1] The cars, known asPCC IIs, entered service in 2005.[2] Later work has included restoring PCC cars for use onSan Francisco Municipal Railway'sF Market & Wharves line and manufacturing replicas of 1923Perley Thomas streetcars for New Orleans.[1]
On September 14, 2011, Brookville announced plans to develop alow-floor,articulated tram.[3] The design was later named the "Liberty" model, and features the ability to operate away from theoverhead electric power wires for a limited distance, using batteries.[1][4] In early 2013, the company received a $9.4-million[4] order for two Liberty streetcars fromDallas Area Rapid Transit.[5] They are for Dallas's newDallas Streetcar,[5] which opened for public service on April 13, 2015. The company also built a pair of replica "Red Car Trolley" streetcars forDisney California Adventure in 2012.
Metro-North Railroad ordered 10 BL20GH units, numbers 110-115 in Metro North paint and numbers 125-130 ordered forConnecticut Department of Transportation, painted inNew Haven scheme. The order also includes two multi-engine CoGeneration locomotives for MTA Capital and four (115ton) locomotives for theStaten Island Railway.[6][7] The SIR locomotives are known as BL20G. After their overhaul beginning from 2020, the ConnDOT units were repainted into theCTrail scheme.
Brookville was involved in the building of a low-emissionsgenset locomotive for theBuffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad that was commissioned in July 2010. The single locomotive was built through a partnership with several local and federal agencies, as well as the railroad and BEC.[8] A second genset was produced for the Buffalo and Pittsburgh, which entered service on December 10, 2010, as well as one for theOhio Central Railroad, both of which contained an engine kit from Brookville.[9]
Tri-Rail, a commuter rail line inMiami, ordered 12BL36PH passenger locomotives from Brookville on February 25, 2011, at a cost of $109 million.[10]
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) ordered two Liberty streetcars, with options for two more at a cost of up to $9.4 million, for operations on Dallas'streetcar line.[11]
In March, the first of the two DART streetcars was delivered.[12] In April, two 1,200 horsepower (900 kW) BL12CG genset locomotives were delivered to theCentral California Traction Company.[13] In June, theM-1 Rail Line inDetroit, Michigan ordered six streetcars at a purchase price of $32 million. The M-1 cars are equipped withrechargeablelithium-ion batteries and will run on battery power over 60% of the line.[14] In November, Brookville was awarded an $18.6 million contract by the city ofMilwaukee for four streetcars for service on theMilwaukee Streetcar, with deliveries planned to begin in late 2017.[15][16]
In March, theOklahoma City Streetcar ordered five streetcars, with an option for a sixth, at a cost of $24.9 million.[17]
In June,Valley Metro Rail ordered six off-wire capable Liberty Streetcars for theTempe Streetcar, at a cost of $33 million.[18]El Paso commissioned the restoration of six PCCs for use on theEl Paso Streetcar lines.[19]
The streetcar vehicles are being manufactured by Brookfield Equipment Corp.of Pennsylvania, and the first one will arrive in Milwaukee in December 2017.
