what is a dummy
An unpowered locomotive shell.
oh thanks
what dough said. a locomotive without any power. usually used as the 2nd locomotive sometimes. or something that just sits in a yard not being used.
I sometimes fit in this category. [:p]
haha. same here.
In the UK it’s also something you stick in a baby’s gob to keep it quiet. (US = soother)
Jon
Besides the model railroad dummy locomotive, there is also a real prototype piece of railroad equipment called a STEAM DUMMY. It is a small steam-powered unit in a body that resembles a trolley car. It was used around turn of the 20th century in city street transit and interurban runs where it was believed that the appearance of a steam locomotive would spook horses.
It would make a good discussion piece to run one on street railroad trackage on an old time layout and let some nitpicker hold forth about how you don’t have trollye poles, etc on your trolley (how unrealistic!) and then show a prototype photo.
The key thing to a steam dummy was it was sort of pre-packaged steam, as I recall – the ‘boiler’ was more along the lines of a king-size thermos, and charged with steam at the terminal. The hope was you didn’t run out somewhere along the route…
Among other odd occupations and hobbies, I ride and train horses. Trust me. A steam engine with smoke raises holy h___ in the equine mind! A steam dummy would be much less unsettling.
I could be wrong about all this…
Some steam dummies were “fireless” thermos-bottle types, but most were rod or geared locomotives covered in a trolley-like frame. Most fireless-boiler locomotives were used in short industrial lines where there was an extreme danger of fire, rather than in commuter service. The housing and small size of the steam dummies soothed horses’ nerves and avoided getting pedestrians caught in the side-rods.
Some steam dummies were pretty big–the Union Freight Railroad used these huge three-truck Climaxes with big steel housings that covered everything but the trucks and the bottom part of the piston/gearing assembly.
After the advent of electric trolleys many steam dummy engines were sold to logging concerns, which had a need for small locomotives capable of lots of traction. Their outer coverings were often left on, although they got a pretty serious beating working in the woods and many of them looked pretty dinged-up before too long.
You guys stateside sucked them once - your mum called it a comforter, in Oz our’s called them dummies.
I still use one, but I stuff shag tobacco in mine and light it. Like worry beads and a pocket full of coins, dummies and pipes help the concentration
David
Something “our friends” the manufacturers decided we don’t need anymore 'cause they can’t get as much money for them.
Well I saked my wife and she said that it was me. So the answers above are correct but I guess I’m included.[:)]
Jeremy
Go Packers!!
Never heard a pacifier called a “comforter”, though I have heard it called a “binky” quite a bit recently. A “comforter” is a term for an insulated blanket.
So many amusing differences between the different dialects of English–in England you put goodies for a picnic in a hamper, in the United States a hamper is where you put your dirty clothes…