When the PV&T started seriously planning on cutting back on the large (100 locomotives!) diesel lease fleet that had been hanging on since it started building up when the D&H began to climb out of the horrific financial straits it was in at merger time, they asked for bids from the usual suspects and every other builder that made machines that fit what the railroad wanted. Normally ILW won these shootouts, but this time around Brookville Equipment Co. put forth an excellent bid for a roadswitcher version of the Tier 3 BL36PH locomotive they were planning for Tri-Rail in southern Florida.

The BL36RS that was offered didn’t come with a full body cowl or an auxilary HEP diesel, but was otherwise mechanically identical, so an initial order was placed for 10 of them, half assigned to the OSW and half to the D&H. The D&H’s units were all delivered in the lightning stripe livery, but the OSW’s were delivered (on request!) in five different experimental schemes.