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In the used market you can occasionally find a used MTH PS1 diesel engine significantly less (a lot less if they don't work) than a new dummy engine and there are a lot more choices.  How easy is it to convert a powered MTH engine to a non-powered?  How do you eliminate significant drag so it pulls like a box car?  Is it possible to save some lights or are you risking danger to your expensive powered engines that pull it?  There has been a few posts I have found that broadly touch on this subject but do not answer these questions specifically for MTH.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Mike

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One more thing. No dummy locomotive will roll like a boxcar. Dummy locos have axles passing through sleeve bearings in a die-cast truck block just like a powered loco, just without gears. So they're heavy and don't roll particularly well compared to other rolling stock with pointed-end axles  rotating in slippery plastic inserts or depressions molded into the backs of truck sideframes. But if your powered loco is a typical twin motored unit, chances are the drag won't be noticed as long as the rest of the train isn't heavy enough to tax the motive power (which usually doesn't happen till the train is longer than most home layouts can accommodate anyway)

---PCJ

Last edited by RailRide

Thanks for posting Mike.  I never thought of buying a PS1 and converting it to a dummy, but I’ll keep that in mind from now on.  I have several dummies.  Only had a problem one time with a powered A pulling two dummy Bs and a dummy A plus seven passenger cars up a 2% incline.

I did convert a PS2 (with bad boards) to a dummy.  I didn’t keep any electronics in it, but as Brad mentioned, a $2 Evan Designs regulator and a couple of 3V LEDs would do it for lights.  However, they wouldn’t be directional.

Bob,

I have a few MTH dummies that I bought new and like very much.  But they are hard to find in all the road names.  I love the idea of using Evans designs to light dummies  as I have used many of their lights over the years and they work well and I have yet to find one die out would not have thought of that without this post.    My favorite dummies are the MTH E8s because the do light and are directional -- probably my favorite diesel sets.

Mike

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