I'm a beginner(dummy with a dummy): Can I turn a dummy locomotive into a working one? Athearn SD-40.

[TallCrane1]

Here's the skinny: I bought a dummy Athearn SD-40 and didn't realize it was a dummy, because I am a dummy. I am interested in converting this to a working locomotive. Is it as easy as buying a motor kit and new power trucks and doing the install? Are light kits for passenger cars the same one that lights a locomotive?

Thanks for suggestions! You can even make fun of me for assuming that I bought a functional locomotive if you want.

Thanks!
Shane (TallCrane)

[jamnest]

Athearn powered and dummy locomotives use the same parts, so you could order the parts from Athearn.  This would be a rather expensive upgrade.  You might look for a used unit on Ebay or a swap meet and pull the "guts" out of it to install in your dummy locomotive.

For my layout I am building a fleet of KCS/BN SD-40 units to run unit coal trains.  Athearn units are great pullers, so part of my fleet includes multiple unit lash ups with powewed and dummy locomotives as I do not need the power to pull the train. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

This would be a rather expensive upgrade.  You might look for a used unit on Ebay or a swap meet and pull the "guts" out of it to install in your dummy locomotive.

Ditto! I have two dummy locos I did this to. One is a Proto 2000 and the other is an Athearn. On the Proto 2000 I already had a powered chassis that was badly damaged due to having been dropped. A friend sent me a a dummy Proto 2000 of the same model and I transplanted all the parts from the damaged frame to the good one. On the Athearn I used parts from my junk box to rebuild it into a powered unit. About twenty of my forty-two locos are Athearn's and I like them all. I'm in the process of converting them all to DCC.

[TallCrane1]

Interesting that you are into KCS/BN since I live in Kansas City. Recently I had the opportunity with my job to be standing five feet away from a brand new KCS/BN loco as we were drilling in the yard. Too bad I didn't know enough at the time to really be able to communicate or appreciate the details of the engine as it passed.

[MisterBeasley]

Another option is to use the dummy as a sound unit.  Instead of a motor and gear assembly, install speakers and a sound decoder.  If you always run this unit with a powered unit, you can have a sound-equipped consist to pull your trains.

Unless you can find a damaged unit and do a shell swap, turning a dummy into a powered unit will probably cost almost as much as just buying a complete engine.  (It is, however, a good modelling experience, if just for the things you'll have to learn to do it.)

On the other hand, putting sound into a typical non-sound engine is difficult, because the designers generally didn't leave space for a speaker.  With an empty dummy shell, you'll have plenty of room for the electronics.  You can even add headlights if you get a decoder with some "function outputs."