Dummy locos?

Does anyone nowdays sell dummy locos? I'd like a F7 A or B Empire Builder unit and cant seem to find any anywhere. Rather than spending a hunderd bucks for a new unit with DCC, assuming I could find one. I have a older Bachmann SDXX dummy that is fun to use now and again. Seems like there is a morket of should be.

 

The last mfg that I know of that made dummy units was Life Like. I usually look for cheap Life Like or the older Atlas/Roco locos at swap meets. If they dont run who cares. I usually never pay more than $15 for a loco that all I am looking to do is gut them anyways.

I use these dummy locos as helpers over the mountain, to add to a string of locos on a long train. Or just to fill an engine facility.

 

Bachmann still sells dummy F9's with one of their trainsets. Also, BLI has offered dummy B units as part of their recent Alco and EMD releases. That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

I don't think there's a lot of incentive for the manufacturers since it costs just as much to tool up a dummy as it does a powered model. And although they can lop the cost of the motor (et al) off the MSRP, that's probably not going to be enough of a discount to entice buyers (why spend $70 for a dummy when I can get a powered one for $100?). Your best bet would probably be eBay (where there are all sorts of "it didn't used to be a dummy, but it is now" locos).

-Mark

 

For about $25 bucks you can buy an undec shell, frame halves, trucks, and hardware for current release (or relatively current release) locos from the Atlas parts department. This is how I've built a slug unit and a couple dummies in the past.

 

Of course, you could always build your own dummy by buying the frame, trucks and shell components either directly from the manufacturer or off of eBay. The catch is that you end up with a dummy that costs about the same as buying a motorized version of the same locomotive secondhand.

 

As stated already.......if a manufacturer uses an existing model and just leaves out a few components of the drive train to offer a dummy, the cost difference isn't much. I talked to a factory rep who once told me that on their end, the difference in cost was around $5........and noone was going to buy a dummy that was only $5 cheaper than a powered unit, so they didn't plan on building any.......he suggested spending the extra $5 and then pull the required parts (motor, gearing, ect.) out and save them as spares, since if you buy those parts from the parts department, they are way more expensive than the $5. Probably makes sense........we used to repair hydraulic cylinder where I worked.......till one of the factory guys pointed out that a replacement shaft was $125, but a complete new cylinder was $110......and that didn't take into account the labor to install the new shaft, which was around another $60. hmmmmm........$185 to fix or $110 to replace.

 

Both Bachmann and Lifelike made dummy F unit locos and in GN paint although I believe that both were in the simplified scheme , green and orange with no separation stripes. And I believe Concor had some dummy F-3s once upon a time. Probably the easiest route would be buy an old cheap unit at a show and strip the motor out and the pick-ups plus the main truck tower gear. Test the motor and if it runs throw it in the parts box and if you want a nose light in a dummy A unit leave the truck pick-ups in place. I would leave the weights in place for tracking and the light could be made directional if the dummy ends up in the lead.

 

The physics really don't work well in N. Few if any diesel trucks roll easily, and a dummy want to both be light and roll well, so instead of a cast locomotive frame without a motor you need a plastic frame; i.e. more tooling.

Years ago Trix had both F7A and F7B dummies. Last one I came across was a Life-Like F40PH.

Considering the anemic pulling power of most N four-axle roadswitchers anymore, I can't imagine why there'd be any market for that. You can still get enough TE out of a good streamline or cowl unit to the point that a second unit could be nonpowered. I have an ABBA set of Kato F's pulling all of nine passenger cars (as per prototype) and probably one Kato F could do the job, but you know, those four F-units make a dandy track-cleaning set, they'll plow through anything except plaster and rock.

 

I'd actually ditch the weights and leave the power pick-ups if you go down that route regardless of whether you want to add directional lighting. Simply put, a dummy unit is the ideal spot to install a sound decoder at some point and not having to deal with the original weights will make it easier.

I think the whole dummy debate isn't something we should be asking manufacturers to solve but rather look to 3D printing for an aftermarket solution. If someone can use it to produce a plastic frame which can accept the shell, trucks and other components needed to make a dummy unit for a price significantly less than the metal frame for a locomotive, then that might be a viable way to make dummy locomotives.

 

IMHO I think the manufacturers could use the income of a cheaper to produce dummy along with an existing run. I think they would sell.
I make all of my dummies from units that do not run well or quite all together. I gut them all the way out down to just the axles.

Mike

 

Amazon has a bunch of "For Dummies" books. Maybe find the answer there?

Disclaimer: I am not employed by Amazon, etc.

 

Never found a copy of Model Railroading for Dummies. If there was one I would have been first in line to purchase.

 

Let's try this.

Not the first time this has been asked:

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?94599-New-To-Model-Railroading

 

Can't help you out there, but if you want "Model Railroading by Dummies", just visit my website

Cheers,
-Mark

 

There we go. That worked.

 

This question comes up now and then and always cause a big debate. I like to run long trains with as many as seven road engines. So at around $100 a power unit you are looking at $700 to pull a train. Well, I have a number of dummy GP7s I got on ebay for around $30 a long while back. Lots of stuff to play with and paint in different paint schemes. So I might have four powered units and three dummies. On ebay right now there are several dummy units for sale. WARNING! Stay away from the Southern Pacific units with 9725 road number. These things are pretty much junk toys that were part of a promotion years ago. Good luck!

 

As mentioned before, the cost difference between a dummy and a powered unit is not enough to justify producing a dummy. It's more than just taking the motor and gears out. You now have to set up a seprate production batch to run the unpowered frames, even if you are keeping the original split frame. It's more packaging, warehousing and inventory to track. It makes a lot more work on the back end of production. All these things are part of the price of the loco, not just the combination of parts used to assemble it. In todays market, the shell is the most expensive part. The motor and drive line account for maybe 20% of the price. Now add in the extra cost associated with production and inventory control, you may save 10% in final price.

I really see no reason for a dummy unless you have a loco that just doesn't play well with others. If there is a loco on a train, it better be doing some work for me instead of creating more drag. I would say the average dummy loco is equal to 5-6 cars worth of drag in a train. If you have a loco that struggles with 10 cars on a grade, add a dummy and you now have a train with apparently twice the power that can haul half as much train as a single loco. Not really productive that way. When you can run 10 locos of off a single power pack without bogging things down, there is no reason not to have them all pulling. It lowers the wear and tear on the other locos as they are sharing the load and it makes for more reliable running.

 

Dummies have never appealed to me especially if they have a cab unit. I like the flexibility. B units in which you will never run an ABA set would be the only situation in which I could see it as a maybe. I don't care for the way they bunch up or shove a lead unit that is not powered.

The only real application of a dummy that I could see people jumping on is to avoid paying for 2-3 decoders when one powered engine will provide enough power. Since I don't run DCC that doesn't help me.