NS 701

Rob offered some very nice modeling tips and provided excellent source information for the super-detailing.          Jack Dziadul

NS 701

NS originally had 3 of these 70-tonners

Mike,

   The Norfolk Southern originally had three (701, 702, 703) of these 70-tonners, bought new and delivered in June 1948 in the red, yellow and black paint scheme.  These were initially used for train numbers 1 and 2, (mail & express) trains up until 1951.  After that they were used in local and branch line service.  In early 1964, #702 was sold, becoming Montpelier and Barre Railroad #30.  #701 and #703 lasted through the merger with the Southern Railroad in 1974, thereby receiving "tuxedo" black paint coating up until 1978.

   The units were repainted into the grey paint scheme (shown in the article) sometime after 1960. 

   The last of these units (#703) remains to this day operating excursion trains in Canada on the South Simcoe Railway, just north of Toronto.

Thanks again for the comments,

-Rob Rousseau

http://norfolksouthernhs.org/
/> http://durhamsouthern.com/

G.E. 70 ton locomotive

Robert,

I model the Santa Maria Valley Railroad in California.  They had 10 G.E. 70 ton locomotives at one time.

I have boughten at least a dozen Bachmann locomotives and I am not happy with how the run and operate.

When you detailed your locomotive did you manage to get the mechanism to run better than the standard Bachmann operation?

Mike Jordan

mgjordan9@gmail.com

Which version?

Dear Mike,

There have been at least 2 distinct designs and 4 different "production phases" of the B'mann 44/70-tonner models. The era you purchased yours (assuming you purchased new) will likely determine what specific production "phase" + design yours are. 

With the exception of the latest "centre motor, truck tower" design, all previous variants have known weak points and common issues, some of which can be directly provoked by poor operation or maintanence methods.
("Oiling motor bearings" is a cardinal sin generally, and the twin-motored "powered truck" versions give Zero-Tolerance for oil wicking into the brush-area!)

Assuming your 70-tonners are the latest center-motor units,
reccomend doing a quick Search via the box at top right of this page, 
as tuning and tweaking these mechs has been discussed quite extensively previously.

Alternatively, kick-off a new thread discussing the symtoms you're seeing in as much detail as you can,
and I'm sure the collected brains-trust will be able to help get your 70-tonners purring smoothly...

NB it is entirely possible that if the symtoms of a latest center-motor unit are simply
"...they growl at low speeds,
and the low-speed-crawlability isn't at low as I'd like,
particularly when run on analog..."

then it's entirely possible that the mechanicals are likely OK,
and it's the OEM "budget" Lenz decoder performance
(known "buzzy" at low speeds, PWM frequency is within human audible range),

and the sheer nature of "DCC decoder having to detect/recognize/adapt to operating on analog DC"
(IE a backwards-compatibility kludge which DCC decoder manufs would Dearly Love to Not-Have-To-Do).

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Center motor version

   I have one with factory DCC decoder and IIRC it ran fine on DCC when I tested it. I haven't run it for years as I decided to build an S scale layout shortly after i got it. I wouldn't expect it to run well on DC as most DCC engines don't. ...DaveB

70 ton

A few years ago I put a LokSound 3.5v in a center drive with speaker. Nice loco. I might have posted a pic here sometime ago.

RMC did a mag spread about detailing this loco a few years ago and a sound install I believe.

Rich