N
orfolk Southern management bought three 70-ton
engines to replace the ten-wheeler steam engines on
mail and express trains 1 and 2. Units 701, 702 and
703 were delivered in June 1948 and assigned to trains 1 and 2
until 1951. After that, they were used in local and branch line
service around New Bern and Bayboro, NC. They lasted well
into the Southern Railway
merger, remaining on the
roster until 1978.
NS 70-ton switcher - 1
NS 70-ton switcher
– By Robert Rousseau
Model photos by author
Prototype photos by Warren Calloway
Making a unique locomotive
Modifications and details
This is an undecorated General Electric 70-ton switcher ready-
to-run model from Bachmann #81101 that I heavily modified.
I’m modeling NS #701 in as it was in 1974. The model won first
place diesel category in the NMRA Mid-East Region Convention
in 2012 in Suffolk, Virginia.
I began by cutting some scrap plastic sheet to cover the front
grill. Putty was applied around the edges and sanded smooth.
MRH-Oct 2013
