Bangor & Aroostook Diesel Roster (All Time)

Last revised: September 18, 2026

The Bangor & Aroostook tested an Electro-Motive F3 in July 1946, sent Alco’s Black Maria demonstrator home, and then dieselized as an EMD road. First units arrived in 1947. Last regular steam was July 22, 1951. Forty-two diesels replaced about seventy-three steam locomotives, with stored 2-8-0s and Ten-Wheelers still covering winter potato extras until the GP7s closed the gap.

What made the roster a railfan favorite was not size. Eight BL2s, F3s that Derby kept in paint into the 1980s, and a seasonal lease of ten GP7s to the Pennsylvania Railroad were the whole trick. Second-generation power was eight new GP38s and, later, secondhand GP38s from Conrail and Missouri Pacific. Rebuilds to GP38-3 sat in the 350s. Iron Road took the railroad in 1995. The BAR name stopped on January 9, 2003.

From the firemans side of Bangor and Aroostook BL2 51 the first section of freight 58 meets F3A 45 east of Oakfield Maine on February 6 1970

As seen from the fireman’s side of Bangor & Aroostook BL2 #51, the first section of freight #58 meets F3A #45 and its consist east of Oakfield, Maine, on February 6, 1970. Roger Puta photo. Twenty-one years after delivery, the BL2s and F3s were still the railroad.

On this page: At a glance · F3s, E7s, and the Black Maria · Eight BL2s and the NW2s · GP7s, the PRR lease, GP9s · GP38s · GE, Alco, SW9s, Santa Fe Geeps · Paint, and the long first generation · All-time roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Bangor & Aroostook. Mark BAR. Company Bangor & Aroostook
First diesel on the property	EMD F3 demonstrator, July 1946. Alco DL-202 Black Maria tested and rejected
First BAR units	F3A 500A–507A, October 1947–May 1948. F3B 600–603. Two As with steam generators took passenger trains May 14, 1948
Last regular steam	July 22, 1951, Greenville Branch. See the steam roster
Builders	Almost all Electro-Motive. Five secondhand GE 98-tonners from the New Haven, 1951. One Alco (MLW) S-3. One GE 65-tonner
BL2s	Eight, 550–557, March–April 1949. Later 50–57. Photo: #51 east of Oakfield
GP7 lease	Twelve GP7s, 560–571, October–November 1950. Ten leased to the Pennsylvania each May 1–November 15, no profit, seven-year pact extended into the 1970s
Last new BAR order	GP38 87–88, November 1967, order 7059. Later secondhand GP38s 90–98 and GP38-3 rebuilds 350–366
1953 numbers	Geeps dropped the leading 5 (560 became 60). F3s, BL2s, NW2s, and E7s took two-digit numbers in the same cleanup
Shops	Derby. F3s and BL2s still lettered BAR into the 1990s

Serials and builder order numbers follow trainweb.us/emdloco BAR order sheets, The Diesel Shop (Extra 2200 South), American-Rails GP38 and BL2 production tables, and Angier and Cleaves. Later BAR numbers sit in the notes. Information compiled September 18, 2026.

F3s, E7s, and the Black Maria

Alco brought the DL-202 Black Maria demonstrator to Maine and did not get the order. Electro-Motive had already run an F3 on the BAR in July 1946. The railroad stayed with La Grange for the rest of its independent life.

F3A 500A–505A, order E875A, serials 5170–5175, came in October 1947 (the first four) and May 1948 (504A–505A). F3A 506A–507A, order E876A, serials 5180–5181, May 1948, carried steam generators and took the Aroostook Flyer and Potatoland Special on May 14, 1948. Four boosters, 600–603, serials 5176–5179, filled A-B-A potato and pulpwood sets. The Bs did not last. After the GP7s proved more flexible, 600–603 went to the Pennsylvania as 9530B, 9532B, 9534B, and 9536B. The As were renumbered 40–47 in the 1953 cleanup; 47 became 49 in 1973. 41 and 43 were traded to EMD in September 1967 toward GP38s. Derby kept the rest so late that 44 and 46 left in 1986 for what is now the Steamtown F3 pair in Lackawanna paint, 663 and 664.

Two E7As, 700–701, order E1163A, serials 8417 and 8615, arrived in April 1949 for the same two named trains. They were renumbered 10–11 soon after delivery, re-geared for freight in 1961 when passenger service was dying, and traded to EMD in 1967 toward GP38s. 700 had the Flyer; 701 had the Potatoland. The last Potatoland ran September 4, 1961. After that date the railroad was freight, and the E7s were just two more blue cabs.

Eight BL2s, and four NW2s

Eight BL2s. 550–555, order E1195, serials 8161–8166, March–April 1949. 556–557, same order, serials 8616–8617, April 1949. They were 1,500-horsepower F3 derivatives with a cut-down hood and no walkway, cataloged for branch-line work almost nobody else wanted. BAR took one of the larger blocks. 51 and 56 were lightened about ten tons for the Greenville Branch. The 1953 numbers were 50–57. 53 was wrecked in September 1972. 57 was repainted in the original scheme in 1980 and named American Railfan; she sits at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor. 54 went to Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and has run on the Stourbridge Line. 56 is at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. The type encyclopedia is the BL2 page. The photograph at Oakfield is why people remember this railroad.

Yard power was four NW2s, 800–803, order E1142, serials 8157–8160, April–May 1949, later 20–23. 22 and 23 went to Republic Steel in 1967. 20 and 21 went to the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England in 1970. They were the only EMD switchers BAR bought new.

GP7s, ten of them on the Pennsylvania, then five GP9s

Twelve GP7s, 560–571, order 5016, serials 9933–9944, October–November 1950, were the engines that dieselized the potato rush. BAR wanted 42 diesels on a 73-engine steam roster and still came up short every winter. The fix was a seven-year pact: ten of those GP7s went to the Pennsylvania Railroad each May 1 through November 15, at no profit, and came home for the potatoes. The deal was extended and was still visible in 1961, when BAR Geeps and GP9s sat on Cleveland’s lakefront. Four more GP7s, 572–575, order 5068, serials 9945–9948, arrived in August 1952. In the 1953 numbering they became 60–75. 573 wore 1776 and the name Jeremiah O’Brien for the Bicentennial—a Maine captain for a Maine railroad. The company page has that unit out of the paint shop.

Five GP9s, 76–80, order 5345, serials 19553–19557, June 1954, finished the first-generation road fleet. They never carried a 5xx number. 76 later ran as Green Mountain 1848 and on the Belvidere & Delaware River. 77 became California Western 67.

Eight new GP38s, then Conrail and Missouri Pacific

BAR bought the GP38 early. 81–82, order 7858, serials 31213–31214, February–March 1966. 83–84, order 7980, serials 33050–33051, March 1967. 85, order 5726, serial 33052, March 1967. 86, order 5734, serial 33199, November 1967. 87–88, order 7059, serials 33200–33201, November 1967. F3s 41 and 43 and the two E7s went back to La Grange as trade-ins on that program. Those eight were the last new locomotives the BAR paid for.

In 1983 the railroad added nine secondhand GP38s, 90–98. 90–94 had been Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines 2002–2006, then Conrail 7662–7666. 95–98 came off the Missouri Pacific (built as MP 576, 573, 577, and 574). Derby then rebuilt the fleet as GP38-3s in the 350s. Those rebuild numbers—350 from 85, 351 from 98, through 366 from 94—are in the notes, not a second production table. They kept 2,000-horsepower Geeps on a railroad that no longer had potatoes and was living on paper.

New Haven 98-tonners, a Fraser S-3, SW9s, Santa Fe GP7us

Not quite all-EMD. In 1951 BAR bought five GE 98-ton, Cooper-Bessemer center-cabs from the New Haven, 0901–0905, built September 1936–January 1937, serials 11785–11789, and numbered them 30–34. They were mill and yard power, not road units. 30 and 34 were traded to EMD in March 1966 on the first GP38s. A GE 65-tonner, 10 (second), serial 30806, November 1950, came off Fraser Papers as that company’s 6. An Alco S-3 from Montreal, 20 (second), serial 76434, March 1954, had been CN 8485, then Falconbridge, then Fraser 7.

In 1972 the railroad filled the switcher hole with secondhand EMD SW9s, 30 (second)–39, mostly ex-Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 8931–8940 and three that had been Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny 3–5. In 1991 five Santa Fe GP7u rebuilds, 20 (third)–24, arrived as cheap road-switchers on a property already for sale. Iron Road closed in March 1995. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic took the name off the remaining Geeps on January 9, 2003.

Gray, blue, vermilion, and a shop that would not scrap an F3

First paint on the F3s and E7s was gray and off-white, hard to see in snow, then blue and gray with a winged shield on the passenger cabs. Freight settled on dark blue with gold, then a vermilion, black, and gray scheme Walter Travis and the mechanical department put on the GP38s first, in 1983, and then on F3s and BL2s that other Class Is had retired a generation earlier. The red-white-and-blue State of Maine reefers were the cars; the locomotives were the shop. Derby kept first-generation EMD running into the 1990s because the railroad could not afford not to, and because the men there knew those units. Cole Land Transportation Museum has BL2 557. Steamtown has the two F3s. The rest of the story—Bangor Punta, Dumaine, the potato winter, Iron Road, Lac-Mégantic—is the company page.

All-time roster

Owned and lettered Bangor & Aroostook diesels, including long-term secondhand units that took BAR numbers. One row per builder order batch. Serial and order (EMD order / contract) numbers are their own columns. Later BAR numbers, Conrail and Missouri Pacific identities, and GP38-3 rebuilds sit in the notes. GE and Alco have no EMD order; that column is a dash.

EMD cab units and BL2s

Numbers	Model	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
500A–505A	F3A	EMD	5170–5175	E875A	10/1947–5/1948	Later 40–45. 500A–503A 10/1947 (5170–5173); 504A–505A 5/1948 (5174–5175). 41 and 43 traded to EMD 9/1967
506A–507A	F3A	EMD	5180–5181	E876A	5/1948	Steam generators. Passenger debut May 14, 1948. Later 46–47; 47 to 49 (1973)
600–601	F3B	EMD	5176–5177	E875B	10/1947	Sold to PRR 9530B, 9532B
602–603	F3B	EMD	5178–5179	E876B	5/1948	Sold to PRR 9534B, 9536B
700–701	E7A	EMD	8417, 8615	E1163A	4/1949	Later 10–11. Traded to EMD 1967 toward GP38s. Flyer and Potatoland
550–555	BL2	EMD	8161–8166	E1195	3/1949–4/1949	Later 50–55. 51 lightened for Greenville. 54 preserved, Stourbridge Line
556–557	BL2	EMD	8616–8617	E1195	4/1949	Later 56–57. 56 lightened for Greenville; National Railroad Museum, Green Bay. 57 American Railfan, Cole Land Transportation Museum

EMD Geeps

Numbers	Model	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
560–571	GP7	EMD	9933–9944	5016	10/1950–11/1950	Later 60–71. Ten leased to PRR each May 1–Nov 15
572–575	GP7	EMD	9945–9948	5068	8/1952	Later 72–75. 573 (serial 9946) became 1776 Jeremiah O’Brien
76–80	GP9	EMD	19553–19557	5345	6/1954	Never carried 5xx numbers. 78 is serial 19555
81–82	GP38	EMD	31213–31214	7858	2/1966–3/1966	Rebuilt GP38-3 361, 358
83–84	GP38	EMD	33050–33051	7980	3/1967	Rebuilt GP38-3 357, 365
85	GP38	EMD	33052	5726	3/1967	Rebuilt GP38-3 350
86	GP38	EMD	33199	5734	11/1967	Rebuilt GP38-3 352
87–88	GP38	EMD	33200–33201	7059	11/1967	Last new BAR locomotives. Rebuilt GP38-3 359, 360
90–92	GP38	EMD	33799–33801	7076	12/1967	Ex-PRSL 2002–2004 / CR 7662–7664, 1983. Rebuilt GP38-3 354, 362, 355
93–94	GP38	EMD	34752–34753	7154	4/1969	Ex-PRSL 2005–2006 / CR 7665–7666, 1983. Rebuilt GP38-3 353, 366
96, 98	GP38	EMD	32496, 32497	7938	10/1966	Ex-MP 573, 574. Rebuilt GP38-3 356, 351
95	GP38	EMD	32672	7938	11/1966	Ex-MP 576 / 2006 / 856. Rebuilt GP38-3 363
97	GP38	EMD	33174	7999	6/1967	Ex-MP 577 / 2007 / 857. Rebuilt GP38-3 364

EMD switchers and secondhand Geeps

Numbers	Model	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
800–803	NW2	EMD	8157–8160	E1142	4/1949–5/1949	Later 20–23. 20–21 to PB&NE 1970; 22–23 to Republic Steel 1967
30 (2nd)–31 (2nd)	SW9	EMD	14103, 14102	—	3/1951	Ex-P&LE 1249–1250; built as P&LE 8935, 8934. Purchased 1972
32 (2nd)–33 (2nd)	SW9	EMD	14104, 14099	—	3/1951	Ex-P&LE 1248, 1253; built as P&LE 8936, 8931
34 (2nd)	SW9	EMD	14106	—	3/1951	Ex-P&LE 1246; built as P&LE 8938
35	SW9	EMD	14101	—	3/1951	Ex-P&LE 1251; built as P&LE 8933
36	SW9	EMD	14108	—	3/1951	Ex-P&LE 1244; built as P&LE 8940
37	SW9	EMD	14110	—	2/1951	Ex-PC&Y 3. Purchased 1972, sold 1975
38	SW9	EMD	17224	—	12/1952	Ex-PC&Y 4. Purchased 1972, sold 1975
39	SW9	EMD	18710	—	9/1953	Ex-PC&Y 5. Purchased 1972, sold 1975
20 (3rd)	GP7u	EMD	12206	—	2/1952	Ex-ATSF GP7u 2205 (2nd); built as ATSF GP7 2678. 1991
21 (2nd)	GP7u	EMD	17706	—	12/1952	Ex-ATSF GP7u 2023; built as ATSF GP7 2845
22 (2nd)	GP7u	EMD	15882	—	2/1952	Ex-ATSF GP7u 2227; built as ATSF GP7 2722
23 (3rd)	GP7u	EMD	16385	—	8/1952	Ex-ATSF GP7u 2175; built as ATSF GP7 2741
24	GP7u	EMD	13186	—	1/1951	Ex-ATSF GP7u 2004; built as ATSF GP7 2665

GE and Alco

Numbers	Model	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
30–34	98-ton	GE	11785–11789	—	9/1936–1/1937	Built as New Haven 0901–0905. To BAR 1951. 30 and 34 traded to EMD 3/1966
10 (2nd)	65-ton	GE	30806	—	11/1950	Ex-Fraser Papers 6
20 (2nd)	S-3	Alco (MLW)	76434	—	3/1954	Ex-Fraser 7; ex-Falconbridge Nickel Mines 7; built as CN 8485

Sources

Komanesky, Joe, compiler. “Bangor & Aroostook All-Time Diesel Roster.” The Diesel Shop. Extra 2200 South, Railfan & Railroad, and Diesel Era, with updates by Lucas Leighton and Bob Van Derveer
TrainWeb / emdloco. BAR order numbers: E875A/B, E876A, E1163A, E1195, E1142, 5016, 5068, 5345, 7858, 7980, 5726, 5734, 7059. Serials 8417 and 8615 for E7A 700–701
American-Rails.com, EMD BL2 production roster. BAR 550–555 serials 8161–8166 and 556–557 serials 8616–8617, order E1195
American-Rails.com, EMD GP38 production roster. BAR 81–88 orders and serials; PRSL 2000–2004 / 2005–2009 and MP 572–577 as the secondhand 90–98 pool
Angier, Jerry, and Herb Cleaves. Bangor and Aroostook: The Maine Railroad. Flying Yankee Enterprises, 1986. Pages 262–266, diesel unit list
Angier, Jerry. Bangor and Aroostook RR in Color. Morning Sun, 2004. Page 6, GP38-3 rebuild numbers 350–366
Trains. “Bangor & Aroostook Railroad remembered.” F3s 1947; last steam July 22, 1951; GP7s shared with the PRR; five New Haven GE switchers 1951; first-generation units into the 1990s; BL2 54 and 557, F3s 44 and 46 preserved
Classic Trains. “Bangor & Aroostook locomotives remembered.” 42 diesels replacing 73 steam; GP7 560–571 November 1950; ten leased to the PRR May 1–November 15; 1953 Geep renumbering
American-Rails.com, Bangor & Aroostook. F3 test July 1946; F3 passenger debut May 14, 1948; eight BL2s; last Potatoland September 4, 1961; GP7 1776 Jeremiah O’Brien

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