Steam engines which operated on street railways were called dummies because they were camouflaged to look like enclosed horse cars, so they wouldn't scare horses in the street.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/collections/streetcar/streetcar.htm
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
A steam dummy, was a steam engine that was made to look like a passenger railcar instead of a locomotive engine
Steam engines which operated on street railways were called dummies because they were camouflaged to look like enclosed horse cars, so they wouldn't scare horses in the street.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/collections/streetcar/streetcar.htm
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Here in San Francisco there were actually cable car dummies at one time- same idea. The "engine" gripped the cable and towed the passenger car. Not much later on, each car got its own grip, and so it remains today.
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