Athearn RTR GP35 to dummy - is it straightforward?

[PhilM]

I have a RTR GP35 that has never run well and eventually gave up he ghost. If I take the motor out and leave the light board in place with a decoder will the lights work on dcc? I suppose I could just take all the innards out and run it in the middle of a consist.....

[PaulRhB]

Yes they should but you'll need to remove the worm gear from both gear towers for it to free roll. Unclip the curved top and just take out the worm and universal joint.

[Geordie Nigel]

Notice that you mention decoder so I assume you intend to run this on DCC.  Here is a left-field suggestion (haven't tried this myself yet).  If you pair your non-working / dummy GP35 with a working GP35 then you could use a stereo sound chip for a dual engine DD35 and put a speaker in each loco.  The sound from one engine would come out of one loco and the sound of the second engine would come from the second speaker in the second loco.  The locos would be permanently coupled but the one chip could be used to control the motor on the operating GP35 and the 'outside facing' lights on the GP35/GP35 pair (no point in wiring up the lights that face between the two GP35s).  The DD35s were effectively two GP35s as one loco on the same frame.

[PhilM]

Thanks both

 

Nigel - I like the idea!