Eastern Railroad Discussion > Back to the 70s!..........

.........Standard Cab SD70s, that is. 

With NS scraping the bottom of the barrel for power lately it seems like, railfans who appreciate the older power surely aren't complaining (although I have some crew friends who disagree haha)! Back in early October, NS train 15K and a few days later 64T had some good ol SD70 standard cab leaders in eastern Ohio. 

1) 15K; Leetonia, OH with NS 2508 & NS 2570. [10.1.2016]
2) 64T; Columbiana, OH with NS 2538 (to make it even better, in non-horsehead paint!), freshly painted UP AC4400CW 6830, and NS 9004. [10.6.2016]
3) Video compilation of both trains. 

Thanks for looking!
~Craig Z

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I really enjoy the look of the standard cab SD70's. Long and lean, sports models. Nice catch.

Nice video, thanks for posting.  

Now a question:  If traffic is down, why is the NS power short?  Has traffic rebounded to the
point they have to put stored locomotives back in service or has traffic exceeded their total 
locomotive supply?  I find the latter hard to believe, but am curious as to the answer.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

From what I've heard a handful of units have been released from storage (mainly SD60 and SD70 models) to help with the annual increase in grain traffic that usually occurs around this time of year.

Yeah, they can't really be short to judge from the storage lines, auctions, etc.

As per Chris Toth, NS only has 228 units in storage (UP has more than that stored in one place) and many of those are stored because they are part of rebuild programs.  The models in storage to reach double digits are 12 PR43C's that may NEVER see the light of day again, 38 B32-8's that are most likely done on NS, 18 high hood GP38-2's, 49 SD9043's waiting to be rebuilt, and 42 C40-8's that may or may not EVER turn a wheel on NS again.  With the exception of the rebuild fodder and units in for heavy work, pretty much every unit that has a future is out running.  The auction units were switchers and high hood GP38-2's.

Nice video, but what a sick horn on the first one!