I have a Bachmann DD40 with DCC and sound that has quit working on the front truck and I am considering making it a dummy. Is there any way to keep the sound and the lights functioning, as they are now, and just gut the mechanical parts of the locomotive making it a dummy with lights and sound? If so would it still opperate with the controller as far as the lights and sound are concerned?
I would simply repair the locomotive, but I want to run it in consist with another DD40 that does not have sound, and have been told that it is easier to run a dummy then to run in consist, I just want my dummy to have the sound and lights...
Thanks for any help.
If you had an NCE DCC system, setting up a consist is REALLY EASY.
However, if you still want to make the loco a dummy and have the sound and lights work, connect a 50 to 100 ohm 2 watt resistor in place of the motor and it should still work. The motor leads on a DCC decoder need some kind of a load. The motor is the normal load, so just replace it with a resistor. Then program the decoder so the motor speed points are set to zero. (start, mid, and high) That way there won't be any voltage applied to the resistor when the throttle is increased.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Can I just take the gears out of both trucks and let the motor that is still working on the back truck work tricking itself into thinking nothing has changed? If so, will the wheels then roll free and loose after I remove all the gears?
Missouri Pacific BNSF Can I just take the gears out of both trucks and let the motor that is still working on the back truck work tricking itself into thinking nothing has changed?
Can I just take the gears out of both trucks and let the motor that is still working on the back truck work tricking itself into thinking nothing has changed?
Sure.
Missouri Pacific BNSF If so, will the wheels then roll free and loose after I remove all the gears?
If so, will the wheels then roll free and loose after I remove all the gears?