Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
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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.
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