I recently purchased an AC 4400 dummy locomotive and was wondering if a dummy locomotive could be turned into a fully functional locomotive. Is it possible and if so how complicated is it to do? Do I just need an engine and the gears or is there more to it than that?
William
That’s going to depend on what is missing to make the engine a dummy.
Some dummy engines are the same as a powered engine, missing only the motor and gears. Other manufacturers might use completely different trucks, or the “real” trucks with plastic wheels instead of metal. Still others might use a plastic frame instead of a metal one, to reduce the weight.
In addition, a dummy engine is unlikely to have lights or any control electronics.
Your dummy engine is certainly not going to have the gear mechanisms in the trucks. So, at a minimum, I think you’d need a motor, gears and new trucks, assuming the frame is OK and you don’t care that much about lights.
I’ve looked into upgrading old running engines to modern standards, basically by replacing the motor, gears, trucks and wheelsets. The first time I did this (for an old Athearn GP-9) I found a brand new GP-9 for less than the cost of parts to upgrade. The next time, I ended up buying a complete new Athearn F7 chassis and installing the old shell over it. One of these options will likely be the best way for you to go, too.
As far as I know it is pretty similar to my running AC 4400 only without the engine and gears. I have come to the realization if this is the case that I am going to spend alot more upgrading as opposed to getting a new one. I did want one to strip and repaint with the norfolk southern pattern because I can’t find an AC 4400 in that scheme anywhere.
Would it be possible down the road to add lights and sound with add on kits or is that out of the question? Thanks for the quick response.
You could very well do all of that, you just have to make sure that you’ve got the proper frame so you can cram all that stuff in there. Again, it might be cheaper for you to buy a new powered chassis and drop the shell on it.
Depends on what you’ve got. It’s probably cheaper to buy a powered unit. Here’s a link to A-Line. You can get an idea of what things would cost.
http://www.ppw-aline.com/re-power.htm
If you look at the prices for sound vs. non-sound engines, in most cases you’ll see a difference of about a hundred dollars. When you consider the cost of a good sound decoder, a speaker and enclosure, you’ll find that it’s also around a hundred dollars. So, if you want a sound engine, buy a sound engine.
On the other hand, one of the uses of a dummy engine is for sound. Most of today’s diesel models have very little room inside, unless they were designed for sound. In some cases, the manufacturers have compromised by reducing weight (and therefore pulling power) to make room for sound. If you’ve got a dummy, on the other hand, there is lots of room inside for speakers. You might consider making your dummy a sound-only unit, and towing it around with another engine to give you a sound-equipped consist. Some sound decoders come with lighting functions, too, so you can install lights in the dummy unit and drive them from the sound decoder.
If you plan on running stock components it would be better to buy powered. If you have ideas to overhaul to engine it would be better to start with a dummy. There is no way that you could power a locomotive stock or modified for the same price as buying one already equiped.
to do a reality check, I looked up on a random online hobby shop listing the prices on a dummy vs powered AC4400.
Here are the results copied from their page:
4349, CNW #8804 AC4400 Power, $69.95
4352, S.P. #144 AC4400 Power, $69.95
4355, U.P. #6839 AC4400 Power, $69.95
4356, U.P. #4356 AC4400 Power, $69.95
4372, G.E. AC4400 Demo Dummy, $44.95
4379, CNW #8804 AC4400 Dummy, $44.95
4382, (SOLD) S.P. #144 AC4400 Dummy
4383, S.P. #267 AC4400 Dummy, $44.95
As you can see the difference in price is $25.00. Now I am sure you may have paid less than that for the engine you bought. The differences I cited are a good comparison to what you have to work with to make it worthwhile. Now please keep in mind that these listings are for Athearn engines and I don’t know what brand you bought. since Athearn is known for making dummy units I went with that to do the comparison. This in no way says you should not try it. It can be done. The question is how much do you want to spend?
Adding sound would be pretty easy. I’ve done it with F units, had a dummy B unit behind a powered A unit. I run two wires back from the A unit and install a “sound only” decoder. Using a dummy often allows you to use a bigger speaker than you can in a powered unit so the sound quality is usually very good. If your dummy has pickup connections you can use those to pickup power thru the wheels, but that can be a little unreliable.
As far as powering it, you might be better off to try to find a powered unit at a flea market - maybe one where the chassis/motor etc are fine, but the body has been damaged or has missing parts or has some decoration issues.
