B23-7

[Cody J]

Is there anyway to make my Bachmann HO Santa Fe GE B23-7 a dummy locomotive?  Any pictures/diagrams would be very appreciated.

Thanks,
Cody

[southerner]

take you motor aout and then take the gears out of the trucks and there you go zachary flowe

[jward]

i am assuming this is a split frame locomotive?

easier than taking the motor out is just pulling the contact strips out of the trucks, and removing the worm gears. you've isolated the motor and disconnected it from the trucks. save the parts in case you ever want to power it up again.....

[Cody J]

What is a split frame locomotive?
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac11105.htm    This is the locomotive, if it is any help.

[jward]

on a split frame locomotive, the motor. flywheel and worm gear are sandwiched between two metal frame halves. the two halves of the frame are insulated from each other with plastic washers. many, but not all, bachmann locomotives are split frame.
http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/dcc/tmaster/tmaster.html
the above link details decoder installation in a split frame locomotive, but it has numerous photos of the locomotive in various stages of disassembly.

[Chris350]

I'm curious as to why one might want to un-power a locomotive?  I'm sure there is a good reason, I just don't see it.  My little brain thinks if it ain't pulling it doesn't need to be on the tracks.
Chris

[Santa Fe buff]

Looking powerful, without the power sucking.

That's it. It incresses the prototype look of the train, which seem to more likely have two, three, or even 4 locmotives instead of 1 , and not many can afford a power booster.

Joshua

[Chris350]

ok.. seems like an expensive solution but I'll go with the logic.

[jward]

dummy units were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s for the reasons mentioned above. personally, i don't use them anymore. all my railroads have steep grades, and i can't afford a locomotive that doesn't earn its keep. i can see the point of dummies on a relatively level railroad.

[Chris350]

dummy units were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s for the reasons mentioned above. personally, i don't use them anymore. all my railroads have steep grades, and i can't afford a locomotive that doesn't earn its keep. i can see the point of dummies on a relatively level railroad.

this is along the line of thought that I followed.  I had guessed that dummy locos were less common now with DCC and better electronics.

[Santa Fe buff]

Yeah, and boosters and clever wiring means they can earn the true power of 3 running HO engines. For me, I can only run two, without another engine sucking so much power, that they all can't run as good. The overall burst development from 2000 to 2009 in electronics is the key driver. Money, well, is always the driver. Plus, when sound-equipped locomotives started becoming popular, some though that having 2 locomotives making two sounds was more realistic. I share that same perspective. Which is why I'm going to invest in a Bachmann Booster for my power supply.

God, as if my room doesn't already suck enough power from the house!  I have quite a bit of dummy locomotives. One lights up! Yup, but that because it's a modified Life-Like DC engine that broke down, and only the light gets the power now.

Joshua

ComEd, how's about we triple that line with another 500kV line? 

[Cody J]

ok.. seems like an expensive solution but I'll go with the logic.

It wasn't expensive at all.  The locomotive broke so I decided to make it a dummy.

[Chris350]

ok.. seems like an expensive solution but I'll go with the logic.

It wasn't expensive at all.  The locomotive broke so I decided to make it a dummy.

ah ah.. It wasn't as it seemed.  I was trying to understand why you wanted to un-power a running locomotive.  Broken loco, that's a different thing altogether.