Electromagnetic Uncouplers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m working on my yard and I’m trying to find an electromagnetic uncoupler that has a buttton you can push to uncouple the cars. My local hobby shop said they don’t offer them any more, but the article I read about Freight Yards by MR said they are available. Does anyone know of any brand names, websites, etc.

Thanks,

LDD

2

Scale ???

3

Sure, Kadee still makes these. They are mounted at a fixed point, so they don’t uncouple cars anywhere on the yard, only right above the magnet. They make a model that goes between the ties, and another that goes completely under the track. I have one at home, but I haven’t installed it yet.

Funny, though, I don’t see the HO scale one on the Kadee web site. Maybe your LHS guy is right about that. They show them in HOn3, though, and I’d imagine those would work.

I’m planning to use these on the main lines, where I don’t want accidental uncouplings just because I happened to stop the train in the wrong place. For my yard, I just use permanent magnets. These work great, as long as you get them positioned correctly. I’ve found that they require at least a car-length of straight track on either side to be effective, because the cars really have to be aligned. Also, the Kadee “recommended” height is a bit high, and some of my locomotives actually “run aground” on them. I mount the tops of the permanent magnets even with the tops of the rails, and that works fine.

4

Kadee still lists these, try this link

http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page309a.htm

5

Oh, yeah, thanks for that one, Bob. The pull-down menu for “Uncouplers” doesn’t specify that it’s an electromagnet, just that it’s “HO Delayed Action.” I guess if I’d have looked at the price I would have had a clue. But that’s the one I’ve got at home, still in its original packaging. So much railroading to do, so little time…

6

I think there had been another Kadee elecro uncoupler that has been discontinued. That might be what the hobby shop was thinking about. I don’t remember the number, but saw something about it somewhere.

7

Kadee replaced the electromagnetic uncoupler with a new design - I think the original was out of stock for a while until the new version started production…

Jim

8

Kadee #309 is an HO “under the ties, delayed action Electric Uncoupler”. It lists for #15.95 on Kadee’s website.

Bill