what is the deal with lack of dummy units available for the all the great EMD F,E and GP units and the Alco FA, PA, etc years ago during the Athearn blue box days they wre offered as reasonably priced companions for their powered brothers. I realize the obvious marketing reasons that only powered units are available and believe me I am thrilled with the wonderful products out there bu MTH, Broadway, Athearn and all the others, just wish that with prototypes that really need multiple units especially the F and FA there was something non powered out there besides searching EBAY for older Athearn fare.
LOL, it’s like that song “money”. It’s the RTR world where they want to maximize what they can per unit sold.
Richard
Yes, that is rather common knowledge.
Rich
Don’t overlook the most obvious answer. They don’t make them because not enough people want to buy them. When I make a MU set, I want them all pulling. I also want the option to assemble the set as part of the operation of the layout. Besides, I think you’re probably remembering $10 blue-box dummies. I don’t think any significant number of purchasers will settle for that level of running quality or detail today. Dummies of the level of detail we’re getting in today’s RTR locos would probably be in the $50+ range.
It’s too bad this forum doesn’t support polls. I’d love to see the responses to “Would you buy a $50 dummy locomotive? (y/n)”.
I believe Jason Shron (I’m not sure) talked about this on this forum or in his newsletter. He said the difference in production cost between a powered and dummy unit was so small, it wasn’t worth producing a dummy. I stand to be corrected on who said it though.
Excellent point. Would you buy a $125 dummy instead of a $150 powered unit?
I tried using them. More trouble than it was worth. [8o|]
Actually dummys were important back in the old days as the motors would draw close to an amp in each unit, so a two unit lashup would just about max out a power pack back then so in order to have more than two units you had to use dummy’s. With the new motors drawing less the .25 of an amp and the price differential between a dummy and a powered unit, most modelers only buy powered units. I used to buy junkers from the Hobby Shop as I preffered the trucks that came with the powered units to the junky dummy trucks on the Athearn dummies.
Rick J
I remember reading that on this Forum.
I remember at a show about twenty five years ago my son dragged me over to see a dummy B unit that he thought was $20. It turned to be Brass, costing $120. I didn’t buy.
I would also suggest that DCC users don’t need dummy units, because they can consist units and have few problems with running rates. Market declined, supply does away.
Dave
Good Point!
It looks like Broadway Limited’s long awaited Baldwin Sharknose will be produced with a dummy B unit.
I, for one, would prefer to have all units powered. I had to go through the added expense of finding a powered chassis for the old Stewart FT which came shipped in A-B configurations (as the real ones were built) and the B unit was unpowered. I run long trains and have a few 2% grades where I need that power.
Happy modeling, Ed
You could put some great speakers in a dummy F, E or PA unit. I could see a 2" HB for example, maybe two of them?
Richard
I believe the old BB Athearn F-7s are available in A-A or A-B sets with one powered and one dummy. Stewart FT’s are also still available in A-B sets with the B unit a dummy. It can be nice for say an A-B set of passenger F’s to have a sound decoder in the powered A unit, and run wires back (thru the door windows) to the B unit, and fit in a big speaker back there.
Been there, done that. Works great.
I have removed the motor and the truck gears on an F unit to make a dummy, in an ABA consist, where the A and B were powered. 2 powered units will pull 50 cars.
I have 3 dummies, if you don’t count the guy holding the throttle. The GP9 and F7A are Athearns I had as a kid, and they’re over 50 years old. I removed the motors and rubber-band drives and added sound decoders instead. I even put a headlight into the F7A so it can lead a consist.
I bought an F7B from eBay for about $20. It turned out to be one of the old ones that was also a motorless belt-drive model, so it has metal wheels and a metal frame. Another candidate for a sound bug.
A number of years back I purchased 2 Stewart B&M FT AB sets. It took only a trial run to convince me to look around for 2 more power chassis to improve performance. I don’t see any real advantage to so called dummy units.
I have a couple sets of Hobbytown F units Multidrives . The second unit is linked by universals to its geared wheels,so the power is sourced from the lead drives motor through the universal. It has no motor in the second unit. The second unit has room for lots of extra weight.I also wired back to the second unit for extra power pickup points. The wire and universals are painted black so you dont notice this very much when the engines are operated .You spend so much time admiring how well they run and how much they pull it is easy to miss the universal links between the units.I did this on an F7 AB set and an FT AB set . I have an Alco FA1 FB1 set to do with Hobbytown Multidrive. All my other units are powered so it is easy enough to run Multi drive units with those that are single power units.
Ron High
I still cant get people being charged over $50 for powered! (i will digress here).
I would like to ad this interesting modellers pov… having a powered F7-B unit is not a bad idea. Especially when said unit is sitting in your servicing facility. Some of the real “B” units were built with control stands, and did not require an “A” unit to be moved around. Makes for an interesting power movement and turns some heads when you do this. There IS a prototype for this!
I use alot of F7’s. When in ABA consists, the A’s are dummies, B’s are powered. This keeps me from having to turn the lashup around at end points of the line and puts the power in the middle. Thankfully Athearn was smart enough to make his frames and bodies interchangeable. So if you have more than 3 or 4 A’s and B’s, you can change your motive power needs without shelling out more $$$. Helps to have extra shells too sometimes, but not needed. This is ‘staging locomotives’ instead of staging cars, in a way.
With the exception of a couple of E8B-units all of my B-units and a few trailing A-units are dummies. All of them are equipped with metal wheels, a sound decoder and electrically connected to a powered A-unit. They are usually semi-permanently coupled with their lead unit and employed in pairs. Some of these sets have a third unit, usually a powered A-unit which is part of the consist.
I stockpile Athearn F-7 shells and chassis, just in case I need another dummy or sound-car for a consist. You never have enough chassis or old geared metal wheel sets.
I use about 12 dummy diesels on and off. AHM, Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, and other parts are used to custom build what I need. My collection ranges from FA, RS, RSD, Centuries, SW, F, GP, SD, and FM’s. Can be dropped in for looks, for sound, simulated helper and control cab. Hunting down parts and building these units adds another relatively inexpensive dimension to my hobby. Rich
I’ve done the research, made sure I can decorate an FT A/B lash-up in the experimental paint scheme of the prototype road I model. This is just a small project that interests me to model & I’m enthusiastic about getting it underway. I have an A Unit, but the prototype added a B unit so that is what I am currently looking for. So as to keep costs down I thought I would use a B dummy. Clearly my research did not extend to costing the purchase of the B, because, shock horror even a dummy is priced up there in the stratosphere. In fact it seems like there is not a heck of a lot of difference in price between a powered unit & a dummy.
The search for an FT B, poweted or a dummy that doesnt require the need to re-mortgage my house, continues.
Dusty