I just got unlettered Bachmann #82057 N scale 70 tonner in Bethlehem Steel livery. Anyone have info on Bethlehem Steel's 70 ton diesel roster? Bachmann has two lettered Bethlehem Steel 70 tonners with #56 and #44 numbers. Any other prototypical numbers? Thanks!
Consulting the 70 ton production roster at The Diesel Shop revealed no Bethlehem units among the original owners. Checquing the roster of the similar revealed no Bethlehem units there either. That isn't unusual, as those small GE switchers often got sold to different owners during their lifetimes.
More interesting is that a quick search online produced ONLY photos of the Bachmann models, but no actual Bethlehem 70 or 95 tonners. This may be one of those instances where the model depicts a locomotive that never existed in real life.
If anybody can find a photo of an actual Bethlehem Steel 70 or 95 tonner, please post a link here. I'm curious now as to whether they actually DID exist.
I found the below Bethlehem loco roster in a search. Not sure about the bottom loco in the list. Almost looks like a 70 ton.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoList.aspx?id=BSCX
Rich
That is a Baldwin DS4-4-1000, a much larger locomotive than the GE 70 ton.
Thanks. I figured so.
I remember Roundhouse years ago producing a lot of models that were not prototypical. I have a number of them.
Rich
Rich
The thing about this is that even though it may not be prototypical, that 70 tonner is well within the types of locomotives that would be seen working around a steel mill. It is a believable model. The mills in the Pittsburgh area where i live used a variety of small switchers from almost all the builders. And Bethlehem Johnstown had a small fleet of end cab GEs that ran on 3 foot guage track. At least one ended up on East Broad Top before it shut down.