Anyone got dummy units?


G

gandgmodelshop

New Member
Hey everyone,

Aside from the few dummies in Athearn Blue Box kits we have left in our store, does anyone make or sell modern style diesels Non-Powered (Dummies) already on frames with wheels? Hoping to run a muli-engine consist but won't need powered as it won't be a long train.

Thanks,

Keith
 
gandgmodelshop said:
Hey everyone,

Aside from the few dummies in Athearn Blue Box kits we have left in our store, does anyone make or sell modern style diesels Non-Powered (Dummies) already on frames with wheels? Hoping to run a muli-engine consist but won't need powered as it won't be a long train.

Thanks,

Keith
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Many streamliner-type engines that come in A-B sets will have a dummy B unit. I have a newer BLI and Proto E ABBA set, both Bs are dummies. I also have a Stewart FT AB set with a dummy B. I don't remember anybody making modern diesel dummies.
 
Well sure but realistically, how hard would it be for manufacturers to make extra shells and since the framework is just trucks, couplers and no gears or motors, why can't they push a bunch out? Seems to be more economical to mass produce since it would be faster, right?
 
Aye, and there be the rub...I'm sure it could be done, but won't. I have to wonder if the manufacturers don't make dummies because they would "cheapen" the full, powered, loaded with every option known to man in the model railroading world. How can you possibly have DCC on a unit that doesn't need it?

I have to admit I think Athearn had the best approach, one that benefits me now to some extent. If a powered unit quits working and is uneconomical to repair or parts aren't readily available, not hard to turn it into a dummy.

Photoman475
 
I asked, and the answer was a dummy only costs about $5-10 less to make than a powered unit. Carrying that figure to retail, it would still only net a saving of $20 or so for a dummy. With a powered unit costing $150 or more, who in their right mind would pay $130 for a dummy?
 
photoman475 said:
I have to wonder if the manufacturers don't make dummies because they would "cheapen" the full, powered, loaded with every option known to man in the model railroading world.
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If manufacturers thought they could sell dummies profitably, they would. But people think they should be 10 bucks like an Athearn dummy was in the 1970s.
 
The dummies were more common back when all you had was a .9 amp power pack, and it was all it could do to make one Hobbytown E unit move. Now it seems like everybody has a 3 or more amp power pack, and today's can motors draw maybe a third of an amp.
 
My 2 cents - I like dummy engines but don't use them because I don't want to take the time and effort (angle grinder, cutting torch, etc.) to get rid of most (95%?) of the weight of a (bad) powered engine. I'd rather spend the traction of my operating locos on pulling as many railcars as I can get behind the engines - kinda like the big guys do. My favorite trains are l o o n g and s l o o w drag freights, where if you goose the throttle a little too fast the engines' wheels slip.

DougC
 
I have three Tower 55 ES44DC BNSF units that have cracked axel gears. Tower 55 went out of business and there are no repair parts available. They don't drive well as they are now so they will be stripped of motor and sound and used as dummies.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
I have three Tower 55 ES44DC BNSF units that have cracked axel gears. Tower 55 went out of business and there are no repair parts available. They don't drive well as they are now so they will be stripped of motor and sound and used as dummies.
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Can you get replacement gears/wheelsets from Northwest Short Line?? You are not the 1st person I have heard with this problem, there has to be a demand. They had the gears to cure the cracked axles on my Lima C420's!
 
D&J RailRoad said:
I have three Tower 55 ES44DC BNSF units that have cracked axel gears. Tower 55 went out of business and there are no repair parts available. They don't drive well as they are now so they will be stripped of motor and sound and used as dummies.
Click to expand...

How about Athearn? They have rereleased the tower 55 engines recently. Maybe they will have gears or trucks.
 
Athearn doesn't make that drive train. They only used the castings for the shell. I looked around the internet this afternoon and found that NWSL does sell replacement gears for the T55 ES44DC. Part number 2274-6, $19.95 each. Apparently enough people were asking NWSL to make it or sell it. Kinda expensive but it's better than leaving the loco in the display case. I'm going to the Timonium show tomorrow and I think NWSL will be there. I'll check to see if they have them on hand. If not, I'll order by mail.
 
I have a few dummy units. Most of them are bachmann locos. Not by choice but because they are cheap, broke, pulled gears and motor out. Since they seriously lack detail I will use them to practice on to apply detail parts.


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Lionel still makes non-powered units and they sell out fast. The $100 difference in price helps to sell them.

I would think with high end HO locomotives creeping up in price there will be a growing market for non-powered units again.
 
A few years ago I ordered some shells, frames, and trucks from Atlas and made up a couple of dummy locos. But the problem with Atlas and most other manufacturers is that their parts are not always available. I also have a couple of Athearn RTR locos that had bad powertrains and I converted them to dummy locos by removing the motors and worm drive assemblies.
 
Um guys... They prefer to be called "motivationaly challenged".
Please refrain from using the "D" word.
;)
 
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