Helper Locomotives

As stated above -- dummies of recent loco models are very rare. A fairly recent one I can think of though is the Genesis F units used in the Walthers Super Chief set. That included an AB powered set of Fs and a dummy AB set of Fs. The price of the dummy set wasn't less than half though. The powered set's MSRP was $255 and the dummy set was $200. If for some reason you had to have a dummy you might be able to scrounge around and find the components and put one together yourself. The cost and time to do that wouldn't be worth it and you might actually do it cheaper by yanking the drive from a powered unit.

J. Bright

Hi Shane, no I don't as the layout is still 90% without scenery and just now is standing on it's side surrounded in cartons awaiting the new house being built. (about Christmas-time if the council ever issues the consent)

That's my whole point...back in the "old" days you used to buy a powered Athearn unit for about 3 times the price of a dummy...case in point...I have an old SD40-2 powered for $26.50 US dollars (back about 14 years ago), and I also have a non-powered one that cost $10.50 (bought during same period of time).

I don't see why the manufacturers couldn't offer current locomotives with dummy options. Really on most model railroads, you don't need the pulling power of two or three locomotives in many cases, but you want the LOOK of two or three locomotives.

Running dummies would eliminate problems DDC MU's, gearing problems, etc. Also for anyone wanting to run distributed power trains (as we were discussing) you could have the look of DP without actually having powered units in the middle (or on the rear).

Considering that an average locomotive costs about 100 dollars these days, I don't see why they couldn't offer dummies for 50 dollars or less. I realize a lot of the cost of current locomotives are in the shells, detail parts and paint schemes, but considering that models with DCC and sound are about double the price of DC models, I'm sure that there'd be a substantial price difference between straight DC models and dummies.

It'd be a more cost effective way for one to increase their locomotive fleet. Also some people (such as myself) would probably buy dummies for display purposes, to put on shelves, or dioramas, where they didn't want to spend 100 or 200 bucks on a locomotive, but might be willing to spend 40 or 50 for a dummy model.

I'd guess that with the increased demand for detail, the drive train is becoming a less & less expensive part of the entire model. I'm told that the difference in Bachmann vs. Spectrum locomotives is in the detail on the exterior, not in the mechanism.

dlm