looking to buy some uncouplers, and i’ve been looking at the “under the track” delayed style. just wondering what they mean by “delayed”? and i’m hoping i can ballast over them without a problem. thanks for any help.
“Delayed” means that when the couplers open over the magnet, you can push the car back and spot it where you want it, then pull away from it. The next time you back up to the car, it will couple up.
I have used them for N scale and cut them in half. They worked well for me. I am now in HO and still using them, also cut in half. You can ballast over them.
Alignment under the track is critical. Once I have mine aligned correctly, I add caulking around them to hold them in place. I also lay some wood ties along side the track where they are at to mark their location.
I have used them extensively on my previous N scale layout. But for my HO layout, I am only using them where I can’t reach too well. All other places where I need to uncouple cars I am using bamboo skewers. Since I have started regular operating sessions, I find that to be acceptable.
Gandydancer makes a fine point. If you wish to interact with your model train as if it were real you have to use a uncoupling device of some sort. IE your fingers or a bamboo skewer. Place the point of the skewer between the knuckles, give a gentle downward push with a twist and the cars uncouple.
I’ve used under the track Kadee magnetic uncouplers in a couple of places on my HO layout and found that they work well (too well) after ballasting. By too well I mean that while they will uncouple and allow for spotting cars they also have a bad habit of pulling cars with steel axles. This sometimes tends to recouple cars when they are sitting close together near the magnet.
Joe