Question (pardon me if it seems rather elementary), but how difficult would it be to make your own dummy? I ask because my Son operates in N scale on DC and he has asked if we could get some unpowered locomotives for him to make an ABBA consist for his Santa Fe Super Chief (he has a powered F3A and B from Kato but would like another A and B but just doesn't have the power in his DC power pack to operate four powered locomotives). I often see damaged or fixeruppers listed on EvilBay or at train shows for fairly cheap and often wondered what it would take to simply convert them to dummy's?
Happy Modeling All!
Don.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
It's too bad, as "dummies" were often an easy, cheap way to get a decorated body you wanted. It wasn't that long ago you could get an Athearn decorated dummy, with all the handrails, window glazing, etc. for $10-15.
In my case, my layout is set to rotate between time frames over a broad period, so it would be nice to be able to have body shells to have say an NP F-unit in the 1950's era that could quickly be converted to a BN F-unit in the 1970's. A few manufacturers do sometimes have decorated shells available, but not as a standard thing.
I too miss the dummies, but since I can only run one locomotive on my short trains anyway, it wouldn't matter. I haven't bought a new locomotive in years; last two were used because they were in SR green and not available new.
Mark R. I spoke to a couple manufacturers once regarding this. There really wouldn't be much price difference between a powered engine and a dummy today. The only thing different from a manufacturing point would the the lack of a motor, drive shafts and truck gears - some of the cheapest components.
I spoke to a couple manufacturers once regarding this. There really wouldn't be much price difference between a powered engine and a dummy today. The only thing different from a manufacturing point would the the lack of a motor, drive shafts and truck gears - some of the cheapest components.
You've got it in one.
I trust this post won't get deleted like the last time I mentioned costs in China as I feel modellers have a right to know this stuff.
Dummies cost us $6 less than powered units - just the cost of the motor and flywheels.
When we announced the F9B locomotives, we offered dummies, figuring that the sales of the powered units would subsidize the dummies. We were wrong. All of the initial orders were for dummies and that was going to make the F9B unprofitable.
So we had to - out of the blue - announce a $40 price increase on the dummies just a few days after announcing the project. We still don't make any money on them, but at least we're not losing money on them.
That was the first and last time Rapido ever offered dummies!
-Jason
Jason Shron - President - Rapido Trains Inc. - RapidoTrains.comMy HO scale Kingston Sub layout: Facebook.com/KingstonSub
Here is another reason:
Back in the day, you could only run a couple of BB units on a single power pack. So, if you wanted an ABBA set, you needed a couple of dummies to keep the amp draw down.
After can motors came in vogue, you could run 5-6 can motor equipped locos with the same pack.
Jim
Most of the money is in the shells and chassis with all those details everyone loves so much. From a cost standpoint for the manufacturer, a dummy would be saving $10 or less in parts at the manufacturer level. So a dummy engine built to today's standards would only be about $20 less than a powered one (maybe a bit less if you toss out the lights) and it just doesn't make financial sense from a marketing standpoint.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
There were multiple reasons for 'dummy' units:
The last two items have largely been made obsolete by DCC. With $30-40 freight cars and $300 engines, I suspect that a 'dummy' engine will be at least $100. The DC only engines are in the $120 and up range already.
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I came into the hobby only a few years ago so I guess the dummy units were long gone by then but if I was to take a guess I suspect it is due to DCC, where you can speed match and consist with relative ease.
Going way back to Athearn BB days, there were a number of diesels, both A and B units, that were available as either powered or dummy units. I liked dummy units because even though it was unlikely you would ever need more than two powered units, dummies allowed you to have a more prototypical looking lashup without the expense of three or four powered units. I had Athearn F7 dummies, both As and Bs and had a GP7 dummy B unit. Now, hardly anyone offers dummies any more. I did see one in a catalog a few weeks ago but that seems to be an exception. Most of what I see offered today is powered units only. Is this because manufacturers just don't make much money off dummies or they figure that our consists are so short people are unlikely to want more than two units on the front end so why not power them both.