I have some older Athearn dummys as described. (before DCC)
Has anyone ever motorized them?
What would it take and how much does it cost?
I also have some of the same vintage already motorized (with flywheels) but need some electrical & mechanical parts and a new shell or repair of old shell.
Thanks
BBF
U-Boat is Motorized.
The easiest / cheapest way to power an old Athearn “Blue Box” dummy engine is just to buy a powered one and swap the bodies. Athearn made thousands of them and they generally are available at model railroad shows / flea markets for like $20-30. Same for bodies, look for a dummy with the body you want, or just buy a powered one.
So then you are saying the dummy chassis are not worth upgrading to a powered unit.
I didn’t know they were so inexpensive currently.
Basically from what you say, just get a powered unit and throw away the dummy chassis
which is practically worthless.
However, the shell might be worth more due to its graphics and colors.
Surprising information.
Thanks
BBF
It’s more that the driveline parts in the dummy units (for example the Athearn Trainmaster dummies had all the gears in the truck towers) were usually cheap plastic, and the omitted motor, driveshafts, wiring, contacts, etc. represent a significant fraction of the manufacturing cost, and still more if bought as parts at retail.
Don’t actually throw away the dummy chassis–it might be useful later on, especially some parts like the trucks.
What would be the price of any RR decorated Blue Box diesel Shell, I suppose in a train show or other venue?
If I would have been able to motrotize my dummys I was going to try to airbrush the shells I
have, like that “Alleghany” photo I have posted, to a RR I want like UP, SP or SF.
I guess I could still airbrush those dummy shells to my choice of RRs, and use the units as mainline dummys like they were made for, of say 4 locomotives, just 1 or 2 locos of 4 being motorized .just for visual effect.
My plan is based around a regional Shortline RR somewhere around Utah and Colorado
mountan-valley area, serving a few industries & rural area that interfaces via exchange tracks
with Class 1 railroads. The action would be mostly the Shortline work, but the Class ones passing through would give a nice visual effect.
There is one thing to look out for when powering dummy Athearn Blue-Box units. Is that the dummy units came with either 2 front or 2 rear dummy trucks. Yes, Athearn had separate front & rear power trucks, for example on their F7 the front rucks are part number #42010 and the rear #42020.
So, you will be replacing the power trucks plus all the drive train and motor. Thus, finding a powered unit at a swap meet is the most cost effective means.
Dan
Another suggestion to forget about trying to power the dummy units and just get some real
powered units. Saves a lot of wasted effort, and boosts my faith in this forum.
Thanks to all.
BBF
I agree that the most valable part of the dummies is the shell. It’s easier to find a donor motorized engine that is not road specific. The wheels, if polished, could also be useful if the donor engine had the old non-polished wheels.
Simon
Yes that’s the problem. You may be able to buy all the parts and the motor and everything from Athearn, but with shipping it’s going to cost like 2-3 times more than just buying an engine at a train show or Ebay and swapping.
Paint and decorate the shells as you wish. Go to a railroad flea market and buy a powered version of that engine for cheap - maybe get a great deal on a roadname no one wants. Take the body off that engine, and replace it with your shell. Now you have a powered engine, decorated and detailed as you want.
For the engines that have a damaged shell, you probably can buy a whole complete engine for $20-30. Back in the day Athearn would pick like 5-6 roadnames for an engine type, and then make THOUSANDS of each roadname.
That makes sense. 
