I thinking about experimenting with sound decoders.
I think Life Like makes one. A diesel if I remember right. I think my local Hobby town has a two diesel and caboose set. The second diesel is a dummy. Thats all I know of.
If you get a loco off of Ebay cheap enough you could always gut it. The only things you need in decent shape is the shell, frame and trucks.
I was thinking about that. Having the pick-ups intact would be a plus.
This subject came up on another forum awhile back and I responded that dummy N-Scale units were a thing of the past; another responder, however, said that dummies were still available but not as stand-alone units - you have to buy a train set to get them.
I brought this very subject of using a dummy locomotive as a multi-speaker platform at a NMRA division meet a couple of months back; the clinic presenter said that he could think of no other way to subdue some of the tinniness associated with N-Scale sound. I’m giving some thought to checking this out using one of my B’Mann dash eight dash forty sees as the sacrificial lamb.
I was looking at that one too. Woth a little modification you should be able to get a speaker and enclosure in the fuel tank and body above it–with plent of room in the body for an HO decoder if you want.
I wonder how these guys are getting the sound quality?
It’s basically a conspiracy by N scale manufacturers to sell more locomotives 
I too have been wanting to get an N-scale Dummy, but haven’t been able to find anything yet. Please keep us posted if anyone finds any. As well if anyone does a conversion, please keep us posted. Maybe I can find a “cheapie” off ebay and do the same someday.
Roger
I would like to reply to this question with a picture attached, but I can’t for the life of me work out how to do it, I am not very computer savvy, the picture is scanned, I have tried it into Word, Powerpoint, no luck, I would really like to post this picture as I think it may be the answer to this query.
Teditor
Edit: The picture that goes along with this post is at http://www.ddmrc.com in the gallery in the cartoons catergory.
Teditor,
Look at the top of this forum for how to post a picture. In the meantime, email me I’ll reply and you can send me a picture. I’ll then post it.
Life Like once sold their N scale E6B units as dummies. I’m not sure if Walthers still does that though.
I got a Life-like set from Schrader’s catalogue that was 2 N scale GP38s, one unpowered, and a caboose. If that helps. They’re pretty cheap engines, but if you’re looking for a dummy, they might do.
Philip is correct. Life-Like produces what they call a “Double Header Set”. I bought one at HobbyTown USA. It consists of one powered F40 Diesel, one dummy F40 Diesel and one steel center Cupola Caboose. The MSRP was $85.25 and HobbyTown sold it for $64.99. It was a fair to middlin’ set. The way it’s packaged allows you to see exactly what you’re paying for. Mine is Amtrak. I don’t know if there are other road names or loco types.
FritzvB
Chip,
I went back to the Hobby Town today for lunch. That set wasn’t a LifeLike set, it was a Bachmann set. It’s made by Bachmann and has a Great Planes label on the box. It’s two GP40’s, one powered, one dummy, and a caboose. The one here is lettered for Sante Fe. The part Number is 69852. It’s on an endcap marked Sale. Sorry, I forgot to catch the price, but I’m pretty sure it’s under $50. If you have a Hobby Town near you they can transfer it to your store. It’s at the store on the north side of Indianapolis, Indiana. The address is 6336 East 82nd Street. The phone number is 317-845-4106. The head of the train dept. is Dan and the store owner is Bill.
Hope this helps!
(Now you have several options!)
I know this thread is pretty old but here is an example of the Life-Like Double Header set on eBay:
Not trying to upset or bore anyone. I just thought someone might still be interested.
FritzvB