So, after reading about poor trainboy’s problems with spikes puncturing his new sound units, I thought I should clean my track from random metal… therefore, I was wondering… what do your cars with magnets in them look like? How strong a magnet do you need? Post some pic’s… I am thinking of using some ol’ rolling stock from my youth and making one! Ciao.
Brian
Just speaking of magnets , I tear apart old hard drives for the magnets on the head assembly. They are really strong magnets , and what the heck if it’s an old hard drive that is useless. You mount one of thise babies under a boxcar you’ll pickup every loose item around.
I made a magnet car in the 1950s when we were running Lindsay power units with the motor between the axles almost touching the railhead. They only had a coarse screen to try (unsuccessfully) to keep spikes and metal trimmings out of the windings.
The car was a scratch built weed sprayer and the magnet was a large alnico from a scrapped open frame motor. It was mounted low under the center of the car simulating a tank of weed poison. If I did it again I’d use the strong magnet from a hard drive as already suggested.
But with enclosed can motors mounted above frame level in all but a few trolleys and with much improved standards of layout hygene, I don’t need one now. Both shop and hand vacuum are in the basement now to immediately clean up after each work session while in the 50s, it was rare indeed for the “household” vac to descend to the basement.
I have an ‘inadvertent’ magnet car - a four-truck well flat made of galvanized sheet steel (aka ‘tinplate’) that will lift poorly-anchored Kadee magnets right out from between the ties! Then the Kadee magnet (force amplified by the steel above it) will find every iron filing between and around the rails.
More recently, I have taken to deliberately sticking a couple of (shortened to length) Kadee magnets under it croswise and running it as part of the work train. It still picks up the occasional spike after I’ve hand-laid some piece of specialwork, but has no effect on my caulk-anchored flex track[:-^]
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I’m sure you can find something to fit any car here.
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp?PARTNER=Google&gclid=CLSo9Mvs7o8CFUaPOAodBw0_MA
This is the first time I’ve heard about stray metal on the track. (other than a forgotten track gauge [:-^])
I made one out of an old Athearn Blue Box kit. I just trimmed the plastic supports covering the steel weight and stuck a magnet to it. It works very well. I didn’t think there was a bunch of steel garbage laying around my track until I did my “Proto 2000 durability test” a while ago.
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/789560/ShowPost.aspx Now I run that car every month or so during my MRRing season.
Thanks for the ideas (and link loathar!)… Time to build one I see…
Brian
For the one I’m building (someday) I have the magnet from a speaker on an old broken boom box. I intend to cut a hole in the floor of a boxcar and then put the magnet in so that it also provides the weight for the car. Simple enough, all i need is a knife and some glue for the assembly.
Cheers!
~METRO