Dummy Engines

[up435]

I am a conductor for Union Pacific and I am looking for U.P. HO scale dummy engines. Does any one know where i might find some other than ebay. Thanks for your help.

 

[UP2CSX]

Basically, no one makes dummy engines any longer. Athearn was about the last producer of dummies and I think they stopped about three years ago. Your only choices would be a hobby shop with new old stock or e-bay.

 

[up435]

Thanks for the info.

 

[loco]

OH, good luck with that. Been bidding on any every dummy I see for UP. About a month ago there where some calf's and they went for like $100 each. Sheeehs.... I've yet to get my hands on a slug/calf. Brass or plastic. Been able to find a few GP's. E8's are not as rare and the F7's ect are more available. Not seen to many PA's, but I got one. Mostly going to use them for consists and add a sound decoder.

 

[Airslide]

is it a realistic idea to gut an older inoperable engine to make it a dummy? if so any suggestions on how to do that?

 

[jayl1]

is it a realistic idea to gut an older inoperable engine to make it a dummy? if so any suggestions on how to do that?

It is easy to gut an engine - depending on the brand. On an Athearn, pull the motor & gears. The gears can also make a nice scrap load for a gon.

On the other hand I recently tried to pull the motor out of an old Bachmann steamer - ouch!!

 

[V&AL]

on most engines if you can remove the axle gear assembly and cut the wires to the motor you will have an instant dummy

 

[lmackattack]

If the layout has lots of inclines remove as much weight as you can from the dummy unit. It gives the powered unit less weight to drag around. I use a powered switcher and dummy slug on my layout. Removing the weight from the dummy unit allows me to pull about 5-6 more 40' freight cars with out it slipping. Removing weight helped the most when starting the train on an incline.

 

[Airslide]

so that leads me to this question: can one powered engine haul 2 dummys and then freight? my layout does not have any inclines (yet) so that wouldnt be a problem. I have quite a few inoperable engines and wonder if this is even a good idea and worth the trouble. gutting the engine is pretty easy, but correcting the wheels so they are "free" seems a little more surgical...

 

[UP2CSX]

Yes, a powered engine can haul a couple of dummies and a freight train. This used to be the way it was always done when powered engines were relatively more expensive and dummies were cheap by comparison. Getting the geared wheels to roll freely is not hard. You just go into the gearbox and start removing the gears one by one. They are usually just held in by the top cover plate of the gear box. You'll eventually get down to where you see just the axles of the ruck, usually with one gear still in place. Leave that one (many are cast in place and can't be removed anyway) and then see how freely the truck rolls. You may have to ream out the needle bearing journals a bit and a drop or two of lubricant but they will usually roll pretty well. Believe me, I've created many dummies unintentionally while trying to fix a powered locomotive and it's not hard to do.

One thing to remember is you dummy locomotive is now basically a freight car and you should still have it weighted to NMRA standards for its length or you'll have derailment problems..

 

[wheeler1963]

Airslide, I have made many engines dummies with no worries. Just remove the motor, and the gears in the trucks. Just leave the metal wheels on it. They ride much better than any plastic ever did. 1 powered say Athearn engine can pull a lot of cars and dummies, with no problems. You having a flat surfaced RR is even better.