Searching for a Locomotive Control Stand

[Anonymous]

I am the father of a handicapped child who absolutely loves trains. Though he is only 5, he can successfully operate a diesel locomotive. I am trying to find a company willing to donate to us a locomotive control stand so I can utilize it for part of his occupational therapy (fine motor control) since when he is in a locomotive's cab he works hard to overcome his quadraplegia and work the controls. I have already emailed GM EMD and BNSF and both no longer maintain such items. I have requests in to Norfolk Southern and Railway Equipment Company and am anxiously awaiting responses. If anyone here knows where I could get one for free, pleaseeeeee let me know. It would be much appreciated.

[ndbprr]

Sometime in the 60's or 70's MR had an article on a guy made one to run his model railroad. As I recall he even made an F unit cab to sit in. It wasn't full size and may be suited to a child operating it more than a full size one. The article included plans and construction technique.

[danmick]

I don't know where you can get one for free, but if you're willing to spend some cash you can get a full size stand from RailDriver.

RailDriver Full Sized AAR105 Control Stand - http://www.raildriver.com/rdcontrols/AAR105.php

Good Luck.

[trainboyH16-44]

Some cash, yes, those are expensive, eh?
Maybe if you make some calls to a scrapyard that does diesels you can find one that you can buy for a bit cheaper.
After a little searching, I found one on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/AAR-ENGINEERS-CONTROL-STAND-I-WILL-PAY-S-H_W0QQitemZ6593247311QQcategoryZ4124QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Not exactly free, and a bit of a fixer-upper, but it's still a control stand.
BTW, no relation!

[coborn35]

Im gonna post this in the other forum so you can get other respnses. I would also contact Raildriver, explain your situation, and they may donate a free one.

[nssr9169]

It is going to be very hard to get one from GM. They sold EMD months ago and are out of the loco. bis. but I would look at the Raildriver ones. They are simpified from the normal controll stands and would be great for what your trying to do! Real control stands weigh hundreds of pounds so locating it in your house may become a problem!

I hope your serch is successful, you seam to be one of the nicest dads out there!

[route_rock]

Also try loco rebuilders, they may be able to help you out or if you live close enough to a museum go and help out there! I am sure they would not only love the help but would love to help you in return. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

I thank you all very much for your advice and replies. I have two requests in currently and am waiting to hear back from them (Norfolk Southern & National Railway Equipment Corporation). Regarding one of the posts, I am not looking for a table top console for Train Simulator or anything to be used with it. I seek a full size locomotive control stand (for an SD-40 or switcher) because 1- that is what he is familiar with, 2- he actively stretches and reaches to work the controls, 3- he needs to use his muscles in a coordinated manner to pul the throttle, et al. Plus, depending on how I stand him or sit him, I can do this kind of therapy (fine motor control) on both side of his body.

[coborn35]

Ibelieve you were looking at the wrong area on the site. They sell desktop yes, but also the standard AAR contol stand, which is what you are talking about. They are all the same basically. AAR stands, I.E switcher,sd40 etc