Brookville Equipment Corp HO Scale Models

Brookville Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Brookville, Pennsylvania, traces its origins to 1918, when the company began adapting Ford trucks with flanged railroad wheels to create road-rail vehicles. In the years following World War I, the firm transitioned into building its own gasoline-powered locomotives, distinguishing itself early on through the adoption of planetary drive axles at a time when chain drives were the industry standard. This technical innovation helped establish Brookville's reputation as a forward-thinking manufacturer serving industrial and light-duty railroad markets. The company operated for many decades under the name Brookville Locomotive Company before eventually rebranding as Brookville Equipment Corporation. Over the course of the twentieth century, Brookville carved out a durable niche supplying locomotives for mining, tunneling, and industrial switching operations, markets that larger manufacturers often overlooked in favor of mainline road power. The company expanded its technical capabilities considerably in the 2000s, unveiling its CoGeneration locomotive line in 2007, which used three separate low-emission diesel engines producing up to approximately 2,100 horsepower. This multi-engine design allowed individual power units to come online only as demand required, reducing both fuel consumption and emissions in compliance with EPA Tier 3 standards. The following year, Brookville entered the commuter railroad market in a significant way when Metro-North Railroad ordered ten BL20GH road switchers, units that were divided between Metro-North's own fleet and locomotives painted in the New Haven scheme for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Brookville also developed a streetcar manufacturing and restoration division, active since approximately 2002, that has produced work for transit agencies across the United States. Notable projects have included the rebuilding of PCC streetcars for SEPTA's Route 15 in Philadelphia, restoration work for San Francisco's Municipal Railway, and the construction of replica Perley Thomas cars for New Orleans. The company's Liberty model streetcar, announced in 2011 and capable of operating on battery power away from overhead wires for limited distances, brought Brookville contracts with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Detroit's M-1 Rail, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, and Tempe, among others. In its role as a lessor and equipment supplier classified under reporting mark BMEX, Brookville has remained a significant if specialized presence in North American railroading, serving markets that range from heavy industry to urban transit.