What is your preferred method of uncoupling your cars? Right now I have some of the magnetic uncouplers sitting above the rails and don’t really care for how they look. I read a tip in the “How to Build Realistic Relaible Track” special edition that mentions being able to lay these strips under the track. Does that really work?
Keeping in mind that my 8yr old will be running and switching the trains with me. He does pretty good with things right now, but I don’t know if he’ll do o.k. with poking a pick in the couplers and doing it by hand. I did see in Walther’s a tool that is a “forked” shape magnetic uncoupler. Any experience with these?
Maybe I’m not understanding the picture clearly enough…
Your 8 year old son doesn’t have the necessary manual dexterity to use a pick for uncoupling. But he does have the patience and dexterity with the throttle to preplan his switching moves, to operate the train at scale switching speeds, spot cars over the uncoupling magnets, induce slack for uncoupling, etc…
If the situation is truly as I described, then under the track magnets or electro-magnets (Kadee makes both), or installation of rare earth cylindrical magnets under the rails are good solutions.
The drawbacks to hidden magnets are:
they are hidden. Where do you spot the car to uncouple? Many modelers using hidden magnets mark ties with spots of paint, or use signs as markers as to where the magnets are.
magnets will uncouple cars whenever there is slack. This can result in unwanted uncouplings when the train is running over the magnet. The more free-rolling the trucks, the more this can be a problem. The normal solutions are to use electro-magnets on the main line or to arrange the under the track magnets to hinge or slide out of place when uncoupling is not wanted.
the rare earth cylindrical magnets are easy to install in the track after the fact. But a single pair has a quite limited spotting range for uncoupling to wo
I have a 7 yr. old and a 9 yr. old who operate my layout with me.
I’m a little bit stumped as to your issue here. My boys are pretty good at operating, but they require my supervision to ensure things are ok – sometimes a gentle reminder that if they want to zip things around at high speeds, they should use the slot car track instead; sometimes help with switch alignments, sometimes help uncoupling. I would assume that your 8 yr. old is similar.
I have tried both the forked magnetic uncouplers and homemade picks that I made with a length of 3/8" dowel and those bamboo skewers that you get at the supermarket. I find the picks much superior, and they’re easier to use. The forked magnets must be placed down between the cars far enough that the ends touch the rails. Then it is usually necessary to push the cars together to create slack, then pushed slightly apart when the couplers come open. Doing this with one hand is a very demanding task, and generally beyond the abilities of either boy. Furthermore, it only really works on straight and level track – any degree of curve makes it hard to fit the tool down in, and a grade makes it difficult to get slack out.
The picks, on the other hand, just have to be inserted down between the cars, irrespective of slack or track curvature. My boys can get it about 50% of the time. Plus they’re useful to give the couplers a little nudge when they don’t want to go together (like on a curve).
But really, I think at age 8, MR should be a father-son joint experience, don’t you? Give him a little help when he needs it (don’t do it for him, help him do it). He’ll soon be a pro like his dad.
My main issue is that I don’t like how the magnetic uncouplers look above the track, and the delayed action can get a little frustrating for both of us to get to work properly. Th
I have no kids to worry at home, so I’ll just answer as if you asked a 58 year-old man how he prefers to uncouple rolling stock. I use the grab and lift-one-end method and I also use the sharp end of a bamboo kabob skewer, the kind you buy 50/bag at the grocery store. I cut off some of my trip pins, but mostly only the lead coupler on the pilots of locomotives.
In general, I don’t really care for trip pins, but I leave them in place for the most part.
I also cut the lead pins on my locomotives because they were causing too many derailments on turnouts and as a 51 year old I found the bamboo skewer method works for me.
Each of us has his or her own preferences on how we operate our railroads. Personally, I like everything to be remote-controlled, so that my hands and arms never have to venture beyond the fascia. All of my turnouts have switch machines and remote toggles. I can load coal from a flood loader into hoppers, and then dump them at a remote point. And, I use magnets to uncouple.
On Phase 1 of my layout, the magnets were an afterthought. I used Kadee between-the-rails units. I found that they didn’t sit quite low enough, and one of my switchers would run aground, so that necessitated some filing of already-installed track. Eventually, though, I got them down and they work quite well.
With a bit more wisdom, I’ve now installed 3 below-the-track uncouplers, so they’re essentially invisible. Two are electromagnets, and one is a permanent magnet. I use the electromagnets on main lines, so that I can avoid unintended uncoupling of passing trains. I’m also happy with the performance of these units.
I always set up the uncouplers with a full car length of straight track on either side. This keeps the cars aligned properly for smooth uncoupling. For the electromagnets, once I de-energize them, the cars also re-couple better on the straightaway.
The first is the issue of the magnets sitting above the rails. Yes, the magnets do stick up, but not that much if installed properly. However, if any amount of protrusion above the rails is objectionable, then you will need an alternate method.
Secondly, that “forked magnet” you reference is a Rix uncoupling tool. The problem with these is that they tend to attract anything magnetic on the cars. So, if you happen to have a car with magnetic metal wheels, you end up attracting the car which you then have to shake off the tool.
Third, concerning the skewers, you now have a sharp, pointed object in the hands of a youngster. Reminds me of the Christmas Story movie and the BB gun: “you’ll put your eye out, kid”.
Finally you mention that delayed uncoupling causes frustration. It is my belief that most, if not all, of the under track magnets are of the wider, delayed uncoupling type. So if the delaying action causes frustration, then the installation of the under track magnet will cause the same thing, plus the added frustration of trying to remember where you put the magnet unless you have the
Thanks for the insight, especially on the Rix uncoupler. We tried some bamboo skewers last night and I think this is the way to go. For me at least. My son’s height and limited reach prevents him from being succesful any farther than the tracks near the edge of the layout. Our compromise going forward? We’re gonna dump the magnets, he’ll do the driving, and I’ll do the uncoupling.
There was a recent article in RMC where a guy had made an under-track magnetic uncouper that could be raised and lowered to avoid unintentional uncouplings. He used 2 small bar magnets from Harbor Freight mounted back-to-back, and built a housing (elevator shaft) for them out of a free wooden paint stirrer from the local hardware store. He designed his to be used with a Tortoise motor to raise and lower the magnets, but you could easily modify it for manual control with a pushrod, etc.
The main disadvantage of this is it’s best to be done before actually laying the track, because you have to cut a hole in the subroadbed below the track. Still, even though my track is already laid, I think I’ll try to install one as a test case one of these days.
I enjoy the hands-free of magnetic uncoupling, but it doesn’t always work for me, so I carry my trusty bamboo skewer as well. And those thing will definitely pierce skin (don’t ask me how I know). [:'(]
Being an “old timer” in the hobby, I have tried it all. My layout is a three deck layout with lots of sidings and yards. Also being a senior citizen, I am getting lazy and I don’t like the skewers as much anymore because of arthritis. But I still use them on the areas that are easy to reach. For some industrial tracks not so easy to reach I use the magnets and like them fine. I can pretty much hide them if they are too visible by removing the ties and sitting them down on the roadbed.
The one thing I won’t do is cut off the glad hands on the Kadees. If you do, then when the day comes you might want to use the magnets on spurs, you have a big problem. As for “low” gladhands, if they are indeed low then the coupler itself is too low.
Which brings up an important point. The most important thing about coupling and uncoupling, regardless of whether you use magnets or skewers, is the Kadee coupler alignment tool. Buy it and use it on every car and locomotive.
I just installed four of the Kaydee under track magnets and will mark their locations with some form of a sign. One thing that I found and wasn’t expectiing is that when a car with metal wheels (like most of mine) is even barely over the magnet, the whole truck is drawn to the center of the magnet, which happens to be about 3 inches long. That car is now held in place by the magnet and will stay there unless you move it a couple of inches away from the end of the magnet. Something to think about. I only plan to use these in areas I can’t reach with a skewer, but that is an issue I will have to deal with.
At 8 I had my very own Daisy BB gun. Not to mention a pocket knife that I used to use to whittle with when we went camping. If you haven’t heard of them, look up the TED talks, you cna watch these free online. Lots of interesting subjects, but one that applies here was on how we shelter our kids too much these days - let them go out and learn. Give them things to take apart (another thing I was known for, I was forever taking things apart to figure out how they worked - like clocks and stuff). Give them a knife and show themm how to whitle. WIll they cut themselves? Probably. But it won;t kill them.
At 8, if the child is mature enough to actually operate the layout instead of running it like a race track, then the fact that a bamboo skewer might be a little pointy on the end is NOT going to be an issue.
I’ve found the skewers work best for me when I file the tip slightly flat, like a small screwdriver. And I keep telling myself that next time I go to Staples or similar, I will buy a pack of regular pencils so I can give Andy Sperandeo’s method a try. I have not a single regualr pencil int eh house - relic of college days, all my pencils are of the mechnical type and usually the .05mm size
It’s not the metal wheels - they are generally nickel plated brass or nickel silver, both of which are non-magnetic. Rather, it’s the steel axles which cause the problem. Test out a truck with a handheld magnet to verify. Kadee makes their trucks and wheel sets with non-magnetic axles and metal wheels specifically to avoid the problem you are having.
Another possible problem source is the sheet steel weights just above the underbody many of the cheaper cars use - Athearn is the most egregious example with both sheet steel weights and steel axles. In HO, it is the steel weight that is more likely to be the problem than the steel axles. Often, just replacing the weight with lead or brass or even blocks of pennies will eliminate the issue, and you can still use the wheel sets with steel axles.
I don’t worry about the steel axles on the locations where I used magnets. They are on industrial spurs where not only you can’t reach the cars with skewers, you can’t even see the track where you are spotting. So I have an indicator at the locations where I use the magnets so I can tell when I have the car(s) over the ramp, then stop and uncouple and back out.
When I send an engine in to get cars out, they will couple, I shove back a couple of inches then come forward and have no problems.
Operations on my layout ( http://members.cox.net/mylvrr ) are primarily centered on switching an 11 track division yard. I tried kadee between track uncouplers but switched to dual-magnets throughout my layout. They aren’t a 100% solution, but reliability is around 70%, They do require a level of hand-eye coordination, but kids seem to get better results than most adults.
I just posted this video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPXqCHwoRlk showing how they work Check it out and see what you think. It sure is alot more realistic to me than sticking in a skewer, Rix Pic, or 0-5-0.