Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
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What was the mainline company?Read more -
What is a Wickham Trolley?Read moreA Wickham Trolley is a small railway maintenance vehicle once widely used across Britain's railways. Built by D...
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What was the Bachmann 'Blue Riband' subbrand ?Read moreThe Blue Riband subbrand was a significant step in the evolution of Bachmann Branchline, the UK division of Bachmann...
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Do I need to apply a camber to a tight curve of track on my layout?Read moreApplying a camber to a tight curve of track on your model railway layout can help improve the realism and operation...
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Avoiding the "Toy Train Look": Realistic Track ArrangementsRead moreA well-designed model railway is more than just a collection of tracks and trains: it’s a miniature world that...
What does the term 'dummy' mean in model railways?
The word 'dummy' appears often in the descriptions of model railway products, but what does it mean?
When 'dummy' is used to describe a model railway product, it means the item looks like a prototype, but is a non-working model. That doesn't mean that it's broken, but it does mean that it is designed to be a visual model only.
The term is most commonly used to describe dummy locomotives, signals and point motors, all of which are available as either static non-working models or with functional motors/lights installed.
Dummy locomotives are most commonly used in HST sets as it's normal for only one of the two power cars to be motorised. Dummy locomotives are also commonly used to model a double-headed freight train or locomotives that are prototypically operated in pairs, such as the Class 20 diesels.
Dummy point motors and signals lights are often used to represent a railway feature that is expensive to include on a model railway, but would be noticed if absent. In this case, using dummies is a good compromise and a cost-effective way of including essential infrastructure on a layout.
Posted in: Model Railway
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