Why no more dummies?


malibu43

malibu43

Active Member
I just recently was looking for a dummy loco and found that ebay is the only place you can find them. One Athearn GP60 dummy I was watching ended up going for $38 + shipping, which I’m sure is way more than it was originally sold for! (interestingly enough, an auction for a powered Athearn GP60 of the same road name ended at almost the same time for $30 shipped) I ended up bidding on and winning a powered Athearn GP40 for $25 shipped. Once I get it I’ll just remove the motor and gears to convert it to a dummy.

I was just wondering why no one makes (and people don’t buy) dummies anymore? I’ve heard DCC allows you to sync up two different locos so they run similarly enough, which I guess would eliminate the need for dummies. But lots of folks still run DC. Are they just converting powered locos into dummies? Or using same make/model of loco so that they run at the same speed?

I have a BB Athearn GP35 and a BB GP9 that I’ve tried to run together before. The GP35 moves at a lower power setting and runs faster, so I keep it in the front. But the run rates vary enough that they sometimes un-couple. Plus, I worry that the GP35 might be overstressed by pulling on the slower GP9. Before I convert my new GP40 into a dummy, I might see if it runs similarly enough to the GP35 for me be able to leave it powered. Otherwise, it’ll be a dummy.

Anyway, just wondering what other folks out there are doing to get more than one loco on a train.
 
rip out the motor & gears & super detailing the shells of old athearn locos :D
 
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I think your answer IS indeed, DCC. It's REVOLUTIONIZED this hobby. Anyone still stuck on DC is doing themselves a huge disfavor.

And Athearn BB locos run amazingly great under DCC. If you re-motor with a can-type motor, it gets better.

DCC's the difference between:

1. Dial-up and Broadband
2. Horse/buggy and automobiles
3. Passenger trains and air travel
4. Snailmail and Email
5. Analog RF TV and HD
6. Pong and Modern Warfare 3

Seriously, if you have not done it yet, do it. It works.
--Jon
 
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Well, right now I set up a 4x8 oval once a year to run under the Christmas tree. So it doesn’t make any sense to go DCC.

I have 2 Athearn BB diesels that are DC and would need to be converted (3 once my GP40 arrives, if I leave it powered). I also have an IHC Mogul that is DC. I have a Spectrum 70 ton switcher and Bachmann GS4 that are DCC and wouldn’t require conversion.

So at some point, maybe when my son get’s older and a permanent layout makes sense, I’d probably wire it for DCC and then buy a DCC controller and convert the older locos as time and $$$ permits. For now, it’s DC only.
 
DCC had nothing to do with my decision to buy an A-B-B-A set of F7s back in the early 90s. For me it was the difference in price between powered and unpowered. Or maybe the lack of difference. It just seemed to make a lot of sense to have all powered units in case one of their mechanisms failed. Even if they didn't run exactly matched up, it was close enough to not matter to me.
 
I like to turn my trains on and let them run. Switching operations just isn't my thing. Detail isn't quite my thing either. I love old blue box Athearn locomotives. I find them to be solid, long-lasting runners. Most of my higher quality engines are old blue box units.

Thing is, I love rehabilitating/ restoring old miniature railroad equipment. Sure, I do some scenery, but detail and scale come last on my layout, which explains the O and S gauge loops that run parallel to my HO loop (yes, I am a newly-converted multi-gauger :D). In addition to my Blue box units, I also run 90's Bachmann train set engines (cheap, noisy, but reliable), as well as an old HO American Flyer steam locomotive and a recently-rehabilitated Athearn Hi-Fi locomotive. Blue box boxcars run in the same trains as old cardstock and tin boxcars, sometimes with a Tyco-Mantua caboose tacked on the end. Did I mention I have nickel-silver, brass, and steel track on my layout?

So, I don't have DCC, nor do I need it. If you are one of those who enjoy and can afford microchips, RTR locomotives, fancy cab controls, etc., more power to you! As for me, I'll be rebuilding an old cardstock hopper car that I pulled from the junk bin at the last train show.

No one else seems to care about the old equipment, so I'm more than happy to take it off your hands. Such is the life of a college student, and I'm enjoying it. :)
 
weekendrailroader said:
I like to turn my trains on and let them run. Switching operations just isn't my thing. Detail isn't quite my thing either. I love old blue box Athearn locomotives. I find them to be solid, long-lasting runners. Most of my higher quality engines are old blue box units.

Thing is, I love rehabilitating/ restoring old miniature railroad equipment. Sure, I do some scenery, but detail and scale come last on my layout, which explains the O and S gauge loops that run parallel to my HO loop (yes, I am a newly-converted multi-gauger :D). In addition to my Blue box units, I also run 90's Bachmann train set engines (cheap, noisy, but reliable), as well as an old HO American Flyer steam locomotive and a recently-rehabilitated Athearn Hi-Fi locomotive. Blue box boxcars run in the same trains as old cardstock and tin boxcars, sometimes with a Tyco-Mantua caboose tacked on the end. Did I mention I have nickel-silver, brass, and steel track on my layout?

So, I don't have DCC, nor do I need it. If you are one of those who enjoy and can afford microchips, RTR locomotives, fancy cab controls, etc., more power to you! As for me, I'll be rebuilding an old cardstock hopper car that I pulled from the junk bin at the last train show.

No one else seems to care about the old equipment, so I'm more than happy to take it off your hands. Such is the life of a college student, and I'm enjoying it. :)
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I’m right there with ya. I enjoy just watching the trains run.

Actually, the only reason, at this point, that I would want to go DCC is so that I don’t have to remove trains/locos from the layout when they aren’t in use. I’d like to (in my fantasy world where I actually have a layout) have one train run with the other trains/locos on sidings and passing tracks. For, me having the other locos and trains on the layout really adds to the immersion. When I get tired of one train, just park it somewhere and bring another one online. Of course, if that’s really what I want to do, there are probably very affordable and easy ways to do that with DC.

So I’m fine with staying DC for now, but if my power controller ever dies (do they?), I’d probably replace it with DC.

Edit – Well, we have thoroughly taken this thread off topic, haven't we? I guess you could even say… it’s been derailed. :D
 
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I for one do not have a layout or ever run my trains. I try to buy dummy's (for the price savings) when I can since all I do is weather them and put them in an acrylic display case. Nothing worse than having to pay hundreds of dollars for an engine just to sit in a case. I will but $10 dummies all day long and paint them how I want. They are getting harder to find and prices are going up.

Even harder yet is an undecorated Dummy....... they're almost like unicorns!!!
 
It's easier to dummy the loco yourself. The ones that Athearn made had plastic wheels and both trucks in the same direction. If you buy a powered one, rip out the worm gear, and remove the contact strip, you have a nice free-rolling metal wheeled dummy
 
diburning said:
It's easier to dummy the loco yourself. The ones that Athearn made had plastic wheels and both trucks in the same direction. If you buy a powered one, rip out the worm gear, and remove the contact strip, you have a nice free-rolling metal wheeled dummy
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You could even put a sound only decoder and speaker in that dummy, and have it roll along with the powered engine, no matter what powered engine it was. You could then have DC sound, and not have to worry about a DCC system.
 
diburning said:
It's easier to dummy the loco yourself. The ones that Athearn made had plastic wheels and both trucks in the same direction. If you buy a powered one, rip out the worm gear, and remove the contact strip, you have a nice free-rolling metal wheeled dummy
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hummm that advice sounds sooo familar ;)
 
I have a loco that I was going to remotor, but perhaps I'm better off saving my money and just chucking it on ebay as a dummy! :p
 
The reason you don't find Un-powered locos anymore, is because Athearn decided it makes more money selling powered ones! It's similar to why they took their shake-the-blue-box-to-build kits off the market, they make more money selling them as RTR then they would if they were kits!

It's does go a bit deeper than this simple answer, though. Athearn would not be successful in this, if it were not for the fact that the market is happy with what Athearn has done! So, instead of paying $5.00 for BB kit, we can now pay $35.00 for a RTR car that the only satisfaction that comes from ownership, is placing it on the tracks, coupling it up to a train and running it around the pike!

So, we made our bed...
 
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I have never used a dummy locomotive since these was of very limited use and the price difference between a powered locomotive and dummy locomotive was insufficient..

I went DCC in the past and returned to my trusty MRC Tech II and my CM20(my CM was lost in the great '07 flood) since that filled my simple needs..

Besides on a small 1 horse switching layout DCC is not really needed.:D

Now if I was to install a sound decoder I would simply use a MRC Tech 6.
 
NP2626 said:
The reason you don't find Un-powered locos anymore, is because Athearn decided it makes more money selling powered ones! It's similar to why they took their shake-the-blue-box-to-build kits off the market, they make more money selling them as RTR then they would if they were kits!

It's does go a bit deeper than this simple answer, though. Athearn would not be successful in this, if it were not for the fact that the market is happy with what Athearn has done! So, instead of paying $5.00 for BB kit, we can now pay $35.00 for a RTR car that the only satisfaction that comes form ownership, is placing it on the tracks, coupling it up to a train and running it around the pike!

So, we made our bed...
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Sadly, this is absolutely correct...except that those hobbyists responsible for these changes we've seen in the marketplace over the past decade represent only a limited fraction of all hobbyists. The deciding factor, however, is that these are the folks who will freely exchange their money to off-set their lack of interest in the actual hobby and of real modeling talent. Increasingly, HO scale modeling is being seen as just a branch of playing Lionels, with less and less personal input.

NYW&B
 
Actually the sale of BB cars and locomotives was down by 80% in short nobody was buying the generic BB cars and locomotives.
Any company that has a sale lost of 80% won't stay in business very long. Athearn had to join the RTR market or face the possibility of closing their doors.Then Horizon bought Athearn and no doubt pumped lots of money into their investment.

There is still tons of BB kits on e-Bay and can be found and bought at any train show for as low as 3/$10.00 yet,these are pass by in favor of the better looking RTR car.

Its easy to speculate and accuse but,the cold truth is the hobby grew up and left the BB and MDC car kits behind..
 
I have always had B units as dummies. There might have been the odd A unit like a GP40 or something that was dummied, but it was linked with a drawbar to a powered unit so it didnt get "stranded" somewhere, just like the B units were always tied to a power unit...
 
Brakie said:
Its easy to speculate and accuse but,the cold truth is the hobby grew up and left the BB and MDC car kits behind..
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I don't think we've necessarily seen the last of the Blue Box kits. It seems, at least from recent threads on this forum, that there is a growing number of modelers who want the kits back. Maybe they'll reappear as a "re-issue" sometime. I imagine someone still has the molds for the equipment. Currently, it seems that a lot of old Mantua equipment is being re-issued currently. If there's enough of a market, couldn't the same happen for Blue Box Athearn?
 
weekendrailroader said:
I don't think we've necessarily seen the last of the Blue Box kits. It seems, at least from recent threads on this forum, that there is a growing number of modelers who want the kits back. Maybe they'll reappear as a "re-issue" sometime. I imagine someone still has the molds for the equipment. Currently, it seems that a lot of old Mantua equipment is being re-issued currently. If there's enough of a market, couldn't the same happen for Blue Box Athearn?
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The above post should be moved...no mention of dummies at all...
 
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