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I thought I bought two trainline GP-9 low hoods on ebay. However I didn't read close enough and one of them is a Cox. Its an old looking loco. I don't have much experience as i am getting back into this since i was a kid. I want to run my layout DCC and in another post i got answers to making the trainline loco DCC. Well what about the cox. Are old locos like this one capable and worth making DCC or should I make it a dummy. The prototype I am modeling always runs two locos in tandem. One forward one in reverse once they got to the end of the run, they dumped the cars ran down a siding and hooked up the the return cars. They would switch locos and return. In order to maintain this I would at least want to be able to "switch" locos and have at least the headlamp on the dummy working on DCC so I can turn on and off the light.
So I am asking for opinions.
If i do make a dummy what is done t the loco to keep it powered for light what needs to be removed so it is free moving and lite weight. If I do dummy it I would not want it permently lashed as there will be eventually a total of three gp9s and they alternate so I would have two powered and a dummy or three powered.
I wouldn't bother trying to put in DCC. Those didn't run good by todays standards and no Flywheels. Those in efect were all the same, Cox, Lifelike, Trainline but the trainline had better drives by that time. I can't remember the motor setup in those, but to dummy it youd have to remove the gears from the powered truck and maybe gut the motor, I think only one truck was powered, but there should be wire leads to the motor you can power a light from.
is it possible to have a light operated by DCC. When the dummy was running in the backward position I wouldn't want the light on. However when control (not real control but simulated ie front position) is switched and this becomes the front unit I would want the light on. This loco would still have to simulate being in the front position. Which brings up another question. When doing the trainline loco can that light be switched on and off using DCC.
You'd have to remove the motor and components and still install a DCC decoder if you want to be able to control the lighting effects.
You could use a standard decoder and just not hook up anything to the motor leads.
If you want to install sound in the engines, it is possible to get sound-only (no motor) control decoders.
I'm pretty sure you can get simple function-only decoders as well, or even use an accessory decoder (like those designed for controlling switches & other trackside accesories) to turn the headlight on and off.
To add to Chris's post you could also find a decoder that has a burnt out motor function that can still control the headlights and give it the same address as the powered loco. That way the light will come on with the direction and you can still control it.
I have one somewhere like that, and one that the headlight function is out but the motor still works.
I figured I could do as much. I like the idea of a burnt out decoder that controls the lights still. It would only serve that purpose if I make it a dummy. I imagine there would be a few of these laying around.
Another way, if they're always going to be lashed together, is you could run a couple wires, disguised as MU cables, from the Trainline model into the Cox loco. That way, you could wire up some headlights in the Cox, and just connect the leads to the reverse headlights on the other loco's decoder. It'd save having to source a second decoder, but then they'd be stuck together permanently.
Just a thought
I am still thinking about this. The railroad has three GP9's I am going to model each one. The question is whether or not to have two working engines and a dummy or a working loco and to dummys. The reason being is they interchange which engines they use regularly. One is always at the shop while the other two are working. I have thought about leaving one as almost a static display at the shop but on the other hand with two operating locos I could run any combination of the three. So most likely it will stand alone.
Here is an update. It no longer a question of it being a dummy or not. The loco is torn down and motor removed. I am not real fond of how it is put together. There is not a one piece frame. All the motor was housed only in the front truck. The rear truck was only used to complete the circuit. Power is picked up from one side of the front truck and returned to the opposite side of the rear truck. the way the power comes in on the front truck is a little less than ideal but may work just fine. It relys on the motor mount frame to deliever power from the axel to the wire connection. With out one solid frame detailing the underside will mean basicly creating a midsection for the under carriage. There set up was two screws through the ugly fuel tank. This will be redone and fixed to the shell. The front of the loco is still fairly heavy and some weight needs to be added to the rear.
The whole shell will be striped of detail save maybe the doors. It will be a blank shell. to start the build.
