I so guess the point is! Some people still find a use for dummies.(other than the trash can).
RMax
ChadLRyan While I almost can't type correctly cuz I burnt my fingertipz trying to solder up some .060 sheet brass & some .100 channel to scratchbuild...
While I almost can't type correctly cuz I burnt my fingertipz trying to solder up some .060 sheet brass & some .100 channel to scratchbuild...
LION does not care what you were soldering.
LION's First Rule of soldering: Look at the soldering iron before picking it up.
LION's Second Rule of Soldering: Adjust eyeglasses before picking up the soldering iron.
LION's Third Rule of Soldering: If you drop the soldering iron, do NOT try to catch it.
I have some neuropathy in my toes and fingers, so I can get burned before I know that I am actually touching the soldering iron, therefore I keep it well out of reach, usually about three feet from where I am working. When I want it I need to look, see it and then reach for it.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
mortor got it but still when i got the engine off ebay the seller did not say that it had no motor
all it said was ("HI SPEED SOUTHERN PACIFIC ENGINE AND TWO CARS") so i was a bit PIST OFF
the dummy is on the left RIGHT LOL
The dummy was the dummy who purchased the dummy locomotive, on ebay, without first asking about the details. LOL sorry, had to say that...
If the seller did not indicate this in his ad, you have a right to report him, and file a claim with ebay. "Item does not match description".
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
All the "High Speed" labelled stuff is junk from a promotion years ago. Do yourself a favor and learn something about models before you buy anything else on eBay.
BroadwayLION,
Thanks, I'll take that to heart, words of wisdom man!
Soldered Frame:
ok makes sens
I have a couple of those "high speed" N scale dummies. Don't know where I got one, and the other was stuck in a massive collection of my friend's Legos. They're not even proper dummy units, since they're actually not operational...
Back when a single engine would draw a half to a full amp on its own, dummies were needed to have multiple engines without overloading the power source. Hobbytown managed to find a way around it in their HO kits, which they called "multi-drive". Hobbytown's chassis already uses a shaft underneath the frame to drive the second truck, so they simply added further shaft extensions to power trucks in permanently coupled units, and used an O sized motor to run the setup. They could pull a house down.
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BRVRR I have a few dummy locos on my layout. All of them have sound decoders and speakers in them. They are all paired with a powered unit and connected with Miniatronics two wire connectors. This doubles the electrical pickup and virtually eliminates the stutter so common with sound systems. NOTE: The photo below was taken before the units were electrically connected. Very few of my trains are more than 14-cars long because of my layouts size. One powered unit is enough for that. You tell me which of the locos below is the dummy! An old photo but it gets the point across.
I have a few dummy locos on my layout. All of them have sound decoders and speakers in them. They are all paired with a powered unit and connected with Miniatronics two wire connectors. This doubles the electrical pickup and virtually eliminates the stutter so common with sound systems. NOTE: The photo below was taken before the units were electrically connected.
Very few of my trains are more than 14-cars long because of my layouts size. One powered unit is enough for that.
You tell me which of the locos below is the dummy!
An old photo but it gets the point across.
Allen,Taking a guess I would say the one on the left is a "Super Powered" Athearn F7 while the one on the right is the pull along.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Some times an engine is so small I do not have enough skill to fit a motor in it. Like my scratch built vertical boiler HOn30 Climax. The tank car trailing the Climax is motorized by an N gauge diesel mechanisim
Peter Smith, Memphis
TA462
I like them because when I'm playing in my room the wheels don't drag on the carpet
you in canada?
High Speed Metal Products Review:
http://reviews.ebay.com/Beware-of-High-Speed-brand-N-scale-engines-and-cars?ugid=10000000012107188
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Something similar to this may have been mentioned already, but here goes...
I find dummies quite useful; I model late 1990s Conrail in Upstate New York, and on occasion you would see a westbound power move with as many as 14 or so locomotives running light (since more traffic moved east than moved west)... Dummies are quite useful when modeling these moves since only two or three units need to be powered! Also at times, you'll see a switcher locomotive or two being moved in a road freight dead-in-tow behind larger road power; to simulate this I just place a switcher dummy behind the powered road units...
Dummies have their uses, yes, but as has already been said- you don't like them, you don't have to use them...
My little 4x10' HO layout may be small, and I may not have enough money to make it a masterpiece, but that doesn't make me any less of a modeler!
I'm a big fan of Dummies in HO scale.
Much cheaper than powered units and generally HO Diesels are strong pullers so you don't need the extra engine until you get to the point where maybe 3 engines look right anyway. 2 powered and a dummy.
And I've done some of the other things mentioned here.
At my old club, I put a wireless camera in the nose of an old Athearn BB F7 Dummy and pushed it around with a second super series F7. The video was displayed on a television. It was one of the most popular things we did and would have been impossible in a powered unit.
In N scale however, when I was doing Nscale, I hated dummies. Even a good puller in Nscale is a dog compared to HO, so you can't afford adding dummies the same way.
I had mostly powered units and had a revelation. Once again using Stewart locos as an example. I want an ABBA, ABBB, or AABBA set for the looks of it. A Stewart AB unit will pull about 55 cars and an ABB set will pull more than 65 cars. The layout max is about 45 cars. Since two units can pull the max size train it was a waste of money and effort to put decoders into the extra units. It was also a on going waste of power having them sitting there slurping current all the time. The AABBA set for a Raton Pass style Super Chief was really a waste since there were only 13 cars in the train.
My solution was to depower two of the units in each set. I used the extra space to put in bigger better speakers for the sound system as below: