SVT’s 70s (renumbered to PV&T 283-288) were part of the second order of express/freight motors that the railroad purchased after the B&NA/B&B merger. Express traffic did not even come close to what was predicted, so they spent their careers hauling freight over the mountains between Bennington & Brattleboro (and, more productively, hauling freight between Arlington and Pownal; light wooden trolley cars deal with trailers much more happily when they’re running on more or less flat ground.)

When the PV&T purchased the SVT, they immediately closed the Bennington<->Brattleboro segment, sold the more modern Baldwin steeplecabs that the SVT had bought to deal with the mountains, started to retire all the other power on the line, and planned to reelectrify the remainder of the line at 3kvdc.

Unfortunately, the second world war had other plans and the war production board denied permission to reelectrify for the duration, so a couple of the 70s (284 & 285) plus borrowed steam & diesel power, kept the Arlington to Pownal line running until the war was over and the reelectrification could be done.

The class 283 motors were stripped for parts and the carbodies were sold so they could be used as sheds and/or summer camps, joining countless other New England trolleys that found a second life as housing.