Fox Valley Models 10144 N Scale EMD SD70ACe “Heritage III” BNSF 9135 LokSound

The SD70 series of locomotives were introduced by Electro-Motive in 1992. This was an attempt to regain market share from General Electric, the dominant locomotive builder at the time. GE continued to advance locomotive design from the Dash-9 series, into the AC4400 and current ES44 and ET44 series GEVOs. EMD’s answer was the SD70 (spartan cab) and SD70M (wide cab) models equipped with DC traction motors. From there, the SD70I was developed with an isolated cab to reduce noise and vibration for the crews. The SD70MAC was the final stepping stone into the world of AC traction motors.

Due to newer EPA regulations, EMD needed to redesign their successful SD70 series to comply with current emission standards. The SD70Ace was introduced in 2004 to meet the demand. The SD70ACe is equipped with EMD’s 16-710-G3C-T2 prime mover which fires with 15% lower internal pressure to improve emissions. The body design is a cumulative effect of design improvements from previous models. This included the latest quite cab technology including isolated cabs, along with the flared radiator sections found on previous SD80MACs.

Although AC traction motors were the predominant choice, there was still a call for a conventional DC version of the new locomotive. The SD70M-s is the DC equivalent to the SD70Ace and was purchased by Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, EMD and CIT Financial, with units being leased to Florida East Coast. With retirements and sales, you can now find SD70M-2s on smaller railroads such as NYS&W and Vermont Railway.

The SD70Ace enjoyed wide acceptance from railroads large and small. You can find these units on short lines and regionals like Tacoma Rail, Northshore Mining, Quebec North Shore & Labrador, Arkansas and Missouri Railroad and Montana Rail Link. Class One railroads include Canadian National, CSX, Ferromex, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and other units were manufactured for export. The largest fleets were built for BNSF and Union Pacific.

While emission standards will change and may affect future locomotive appearance, the SD70ACe that we know today should be around for years to come.

FEATURES:

• New road numbers
• Era: 2007 to present
• Series 9130 to 9329; built 2007-2009
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• Operating LED-illuminated front deck-mounted ditch lights
• Printed and LED-illuminated number boards
• Factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons, 3-hose MU clusters, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, sunshades, brake wheel, and more
• Tall snowplow with open doors
• Operating knuckle couplers – Micro-Trains® compatible
• Body mounted coupler box – accepts Micro-Trains® 1015/1016 type couplers without modification
• Walkway with front and rear anticlimber
• Diamond plate anti-slip walkway tread
• Nose door without window
• Front LED-illuminated headlight with lenses on low short hood
• EMD ISO cab
• Detailed cab interior with floor, rear wall, seats, and desktop
• Tinted cab side windows
• Early EMD inverter box
• Cab roof octagonal antenna dome
• Lost wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K5LLA horn mounted on engine cab roof
• LED-illuminated high mounted vertical rear headlight
• Fuel tank with single fills per side
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Dual flywheels
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Printing and lettering legible under magnification
• Operates on Code 55 and 80 rail
• Packaging safely stores model
• Minimum Radius: 9 ¾”
• Recommended Radius: 11”
• DCC & sound equipped locomotives also feature
• ESU-LokSound 5 Micro DCC & sound decoder with “Full Throttle”
• Cube-type speaker
• Accurate EMD prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
• Operates on both DC and DCC layouts