#2854
GE 70-ton switcher
🇺🇸 United States ·built by GE Transportation· from 1947· model of diesel-electric locomotive
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5 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Ex-Southern Pacific 5100, GE switcher, at ORHC in 2013: Steve Morgan· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. ABPF 03 GE 70 ton switcher: Dkramer767· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Norfolk 70 ton Switcher No 703 (8061980522): Peter Broster· CC BY 2.0
- 4. Norfolk 70 ton Switcher No. 703 Diesel Locomotive - August 2007: Can Pac Swire· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 5. Waterloo Central Railway GE 70 ton 1556 (2987320642): kevint3141 from Kitchener, Canada· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November 1942.
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 79 years ago, in 1947.
- Weighs about as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 11.3 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1947–1955
- number built
- 238
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- GE Transportation, General Electric
- top speed
- 97 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 11.3 m
- weight
- 59 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5513250, Wikipedia: GE 70-ton switcher (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.