I want to scrap out the guts on one of my athearn blue box locos and make it a dummy loco. Can I just pullout the running gear or will I need to buy new trucks and stuff like that? How do I go about doing this?
making a dummy
- Thread starter Kevinkrey
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Pretty quiet tonight Kev. Yeah, I think all you'd need to do is remove anything that keeps the wheels from freely moving.
Ralph
Ralph
Kevin: the minimum is you need to remove any worm gears. For freer running you'll have to start removing the idler gears joining the axles.
This isn't too hard as I had to take out a bunch when I installed the extra-low Ernst gearing.
I have an idea that unpowered trucks (where they exist) have a different mounting than the powered ones.
This isn't too hard as I had to take out a bunch when I installed the extra-low Ernst gearing.
I have an idea that unpowered trucks (where they exist) have a different mounting than the powered ones.
Yes indeed Ralph, very slow today.
60103, it makes more sense now. I think ill just do the minimum to get the wheels rolling, so I can keep some weight in it.
60103, it makes more sense now. I think ill just do the minimum to get the wheels rolling, so I can keep some weight in it.
Your best dummies are converted powered units. The weight and metal axles make for a unit not easily prone to derailments. As was said before, all you need to do is take out all the idlers, leaving only the geared axles. Another plus is that you can have directional lighting simply by utilizing the electrical contacts already built in.
N
nachoman
IIRC, Athearn trucks are riveted together, and one would have to remove and replace those rivets to get the truck gears out, correct?
Kevin
Kevin
IIRC, Athearn trucks are riveted together, and one would have to remove and replace those rivets to get the truck gears out, correct?
Kevin
No, Kevin. The metal plate is riveted to each side of the truck frame which is used for electrical pick up, but if you take the clip off the top that holds the worm gear and bearings in place and then remove the second clip from the bottom of the truck that is the "floor" of the gear box, the truck splits into two halves, and the gears are easily removed. I have occasionally broken the top clip that holds the worm gear in place, but I think replacements are readily available from Athearn.