dummy conversion

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T

trainman78

Member
i have a Bachmann GP40 that is missing gears in the power truck and when my replacement truck arrived from Bachmann it was of a totaly different design than the one that was in it. I tried to take the gears out of the new one and put them into the old one but the gears on the new one was so much bigger than the gears from the old one. i took out the gears on the truck and cut the wires that lead to the powered truck the lights still come on when the power is turned on, do i need to cut the wires in the back or will it be fine with the wires still attached in the back? BTW i am using DC
 
As long as the motor doesn't spin you are fine.......I have an N scale SD40 (old version with the flashing light) and I cut all the wires to the motor, but left the lights operational. I don't use it as a "dummy", I use it as a static display at NTRAK setups. It looks nice sitting on a siding with the lights on and the beacon flashing.
 
i'm not sure if the motor is spinning or not, the truck with the gears the wires got cut so i am guessing that there is no current going to the motor but like i said i was not sure.
 


It really wouldn't hurt if the motor was spinning, but at the same time it's using power for no useful purpose. I'm not familiar with the model in question, but as a rule, you only want a dummy loco to be heavy enough to stay on the track, so as a rule you want to strip off any non-essential weight.....gears, drive shafts, motor, flywheels, any removable weight.
 
Was this one of the old Bachmann's with the motor mounted in one of the trucks? If it was, as long as the wires to the motor are clipped, and the trucks roll freely, there is no reason to do anything else. Just stick it behind another loco and let it roll.
 
probably, the new one did not fit and i tore it up. so i cut the wires leading to the truck with the gears and removed the gears, anything else i need to do?
 
Here's another idea Trainman. I turned this RS-3 dummy into a sound unit.

rs3_sd.jpg
 


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