The neglected BL2

Great looking loco. Design was way ahead of its time. 

I have never understood what makes it ugly to people.  

Brendan 

I always like it, my next custom will be for the Reading. Would make a good locomotive for The Crusader in the later years of the Reading.

Dave Warburton posted:

Great looking loco. Design was way ahead of its time. 

Actually, it was more behind it's time and was EMD's initial response to Alco's RS1 which came out 7 years earlier.  From what I understand they were a pain for EMD to build, which is why the BL2 was history after a year of production and the GP7 replaced it.

It is a neat looking loco, though.

Rusty

Seeing as I bought a new WBB BL2 for $79 there must not be much demand no matter the roadname. 

When Williams came out with the BL2 in the Western Maryland road I jumped on two of them.  That's how many the WM had - #81 & #82.  We have #81 at the B&O Museum in Baltimore.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And some people called this engine ugly

wild mary posted:

When Williams came out with the BL2 in the Western Maryland road I jumped on two of them.  That's how many the WM had - #81 & #82.  We have #81 at the B&O Museum in Baltimore.

Same here! First Williams loco I ever bought was the WM BL-2 Fireball. Got it from Justrains.

I have always liked the BL-2.    To me I think it would look good in any road name! 

Which railroad schemes? Chessie System Seaboars System Santa Fe  Union Pacific

Which railroad schemes? Chessie System Seaboard System Santa Fe Union Pacific ConRail Norfolk Southern

falconservice posted:

Which railroad schemes?

Try Google for original owners of EMD BL2.

Chessie System Seaboars System Santa Fe  Union Pacific

None of those.

 

Tell that to original poster? I was asking him what other railroads could they make. Are you a Hot Head?

I have always liked the BL2, too.

I don't own one in O gauge, but did consider buying an MTH version offered in the 2017 Vol. 1 catalog.  

 

Larry

I'll never forget the first time I saw a BL2.  I was on a Christmas one day pass from Great Lakes Naval Training Center where i was stationed for boot camp.  Coming from Philly, I never really had the chance to see diesel power up close and personal.  I'm talking F3s for the most part as they were what I was familiar with from Lionel catalogs.  

I'm standing on the platform with hundreds of other recruits and I get a glimpse of what I thought were the telltale F3 windshields.  To my great disappointment, a BL2 comes into the station.  I had no idea what it was and had never seen such an odd looking locomotive, even in any train catalogs I had read.  

I have to respectfully disagree with those of you who love the looks of the BL2.  To me it's one of those children only a mother could love.  

I never saw one--they were long gone on the C&O by the time I was old enough to be noticing trains on ice cream hunting trips in Plymouth, MI in the late 60's...

Jeff C

I have an MTH BL-2, vintage 1995+/-, Western Maryland that I've upgraded to PS-2. I always thought the BL-2 was a good-looking engine.  The 1995 version was built by Samhongsa, so is sound as a rock.

leikec posted:

I never saw one--they were long gone on the C&O by the time I was old enough to be noticing trains on ice cream hunting trips in Plymouth, MI in the late 60's...

Jeff C

You can still ride behind one today.......

Have 2 Williams BL2 locomotives, MONON and C&EI.

This BL2 has not been neglected, check this out!

WM BL2 82

Ed

Gene H posted:

... I could never understand why manufacturers never decorated them in roads other than the prototypical roads that had them,

really... just like where are the Ford Corvette and Chevy Mustang models?!

don't manufacturers see what a gold mine those would be??

Ed Mullan posted:

This BL2 has not been neglected, check this out!

WM BL2 82

Ed

I bet it was exciting getting that BL-2 down the 10% grades and sharp curves between Elkins and Cass!!!!

I have to respectfully disagree with Dan Padova, that is a face too Ugly for even a Mother to Love. Beyond Pug Ugly.

Just my Opinion of course, YMMV.

Doug

I have the MTH Florida East Coast BL-2. Here's an interesting photo from my files of a Chicago & Eastern Illinois BL-2 in Chicago.  Operators included Bangor & Aroostook, Boston &Maine, Chesapeake & Ohio, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Florida East Coast, Monon, Missouri Pacific, Rock Island, and Western Maryland.

 

Lew Schneider

challenger3980 posted:

I have to respectfully disagree with Dan Padova, that is a face too Ugly for even a Mother to Love. Beyond Pug Ugly.

Just my Opinion of course, YMMV.

Doug

As we used to say when we were young and dumb, caring not about other's feelings;

"Looks like it got hit with the ugly stick"

Or

"Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone"

Or

"It's a double bagger"

Now we're grown and more sensitive about those others.  So with all due respect for those BL2 lovers, You can have her, she's too fat for me.....LOL

 

falconservice posted:

Tell that to original poster? I was asking him what other railroads could they make. Are you a Hot Head?

Reading,  Jersey Central,  New Jersey Transit, Penn Central. I have a custom Pennsy's in Tuscan and Brunswick Green 

I don't model the diesel era, but l used to drive by a Monon BL-2 switching a plant in southern Indiana. Today l would operate MoPac and RI versions. Are those models in scale, and not like the old Williams 44tonner (oversize)? As for appearance, to me they have more character and styling than any of the econobox road switchers, indistinguishable to me, that have followed it, to date.

I'm a huge fan of the BL2 locomotive!!!  Ever since I discovered them back in 1975 when modeling in HO!  Back then I bought a C&O  BL2 and a loved the livery!!   Now I have Western Maryland number 81, since the Western Maryland is part of my railroad's theme.  This is a MTH Premier model. 

Let's just say the BL2 was a well-engineered locomotive - but the railroads apparently thought that the design left something to be desired. As a Boston & Maine fan, it is nonetheless a welcome sight on my model railroad.

MELGAR

Back in the 60's and early 70's, they were used in Rock Island commuter service in Chicago, often pulling the 2500-2600 series "Al Capone cars". I always thought they were distinctive, as was the rest of the" dog's breakfast" of power RI used back then.

(Englewood, 1965, Marty Bernard photo)

Dan Padova posted:

challenger3980 posted:

I have to respectfully disagree with Dan Padova, that is a face too Ugly for even a Mother to Love. Beyond Pug Ugly.

Just my Opinion of course, YMMV.

Doug

As we used to say when we were young and dumb, caring not about other's feelings;

"Looks like it got hit with the ugly stick"

Or

"Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone"

Or

"It's a double bagger"

Now we're grown and more sensitive about those others.  So with all due respect for those BL2 lovers, You can have her, she's too fat for me.....LOL

 

I had a LWS kit built one - if I had a dog that ugly, I'd shave its behind and teach it to walk backwards....

Always liked the J&SE unit, seen here also with a sad BAR unit at NRM, Green Bay.

( FIRST Photo- Marc Malnekoof, LaGrange, 1997; SECOND photo- Steven Langsford, NRM, Green Bay, 2006; THIRD photo- Shawn Heider, Green Bay, 2008.) 

Some terrific photos. The new MTH Premier BL2s are on their way. I have been invoiced for the first of them already. 

They may be "uglier" than F-units, but here the Janeville unit leads them in a short train. (June, 1991, Edgebrook {Chicago})  (Video by Trainbrain 1949)

Back in the '70's RMC introduced me to the BL2 in an article they ran. The article said there were only 50 some made (don't remember the exact number) and most were scrapped. I was into HO at the time and picked up an AHM BL2 and painted it to look like it was built out of pieces of the different BL2's that were scrapped. Then nicknamed it "The Beast." However, the junkyard dog look didn't make it look any prettier!   lol

Gene H posted:

falconservice posted:

Tell that to original poster? I was asking him what other railroads could they make. Are you a Hot Head?

Reading,  Jersey Central,  New Jersey Transit, Penn Central. I have a custom Pennsy's in Tuscan and Brunswick Green

 

I like the Brunswick Green version.  I could definitely go for one of those.

 

handyandy posted:

Back in the '70's RMC introduced me to the BL2 in an article they ran. The article said there were only 50 some made (don't remember the exact number) and most were scrapped.

59 to be exact.

Rusty

Yeah, I don't see that the BL-2 is any uglier than most diesel locomotives. It has a bit of the Art Deco look, though it came along later. I would like to take 2 of them and bash a big, freelance center-cab transfer loco. 

But, locomotives of any kind were and are primarily big, dirty, hulking, impressive pieces of industrial equipment, and "handsome" or "pretty" are not words that come to mind immediately. I don't see the BL-2 being much less "attractive" than an EMD F-3.

Alco cab units (FA's and PA's) were certainly the most "elegant" (again - really?) of the diesels, with the FM Erie-Builts following close behind. I like the BL-2 just fine - but it's certainly no high-nose SD9. That's a good-looking EMD.  

They never appealed to me. I am with Don on this one.