Turning a Lionel 44 ton switcher into dummy unit?

Just pull the armature out.  MagneTraction will not prevent it from being towed around by the Williams.

Motor's completely removed.

The Williams just spins its wheels.

How can the motor be completely removed?   It's an integrated motor truck.  If the Williams can't pull it, it's not due to Magnetraction. 

1)Consider installing another motor in the Williams

2)Acquire another dummy truck for the Lionel and fashion an adapter plate to accept it. 

3)Add weight to the Williams.

The Williams with one motor will still have a tough time.

Even with the armature removed, I think the gear train and worn axle bushings are going to keep the motor truck from rolling freely.

IMHO, even if the axle bushing are OK, you would need to break down the truck, and pull the wheels enough to remove the idler gears from the side of the motor truck.

Those trucks aren't really made to be disassembled, so it's a PITA job.

I think I would go with Rob's #2 suggestion.

Or better yet, does Williams make a dummy?

keep in mind the Williams 44 tonner has 1 small can motor in it. While it hsould be able to pull a dummy unit (Williams does not make dummy 44s), just something to keep in mind

My world's not going to end if I can't make it work. The only reason I want to do this is is to get some value out of the locomotive.

I've already spent way too much money on it.

Matt, I'm a big 027 operator and had a several dummy K-Line Alco FA's along with several Lionel MPC era dummy A and B Alco units. The K-Line dummy units use the same basic truck assembly that is used on the motorized units.

But the Lionel MPC-era dummy Alcos use a separate style dummy truck that is much more free rolling than the K-Line ones. But the truck mounting pins/holes are in different places.

So I've been using thick black styrene to create new dummy frames, and drill truck mounting holes to match up for the Lionel MPC dummy trucks and also holes to match mounting of the shell. You could use basswood or plywood too. But I got a deal on a bunch of thick black styrene that I bought for the intention of making frames for dummy units.

Maybe you already have some MPC dummy units. They're certainly not all that expensive on the various auction sites and probably cheaper than buying the trucks through a parts dealers, though I seem to remember seeing them on Jeff Kane's parts lists.

Anyways, just an idea for you. The Lionel MPC era dummy trucks cause far less drag than do the K-Line ones and allow a longer train with less stress on the motorized unit. You might be able to use dummy trucks from other manufacturers like MTH. It's just the Lionel MPC ones are far more common and I would gander less expensive and would probably suit your possible project much better.

AS a PS, I've even made a new frame to replace the metal one of one the newer Lionel LTI era 44-ton switchers so that it doesn't ride so high. I was only able to lower it about 1/8 inch but it still looks better than before.

It's no dummy anymore!

Now it's a Frankenswitcher, with the power truck and e-unit out of an MPC-era ALCO, I believe.

It don't look right, only has a usable coupler on one end now, and runs uphill slightly, but it moves around the track under its own power!

The motor needs a good cleaning. I call it "Old Sparky" right now, though it is getting better with run time.