I plan on using permanent magnets under my track to activate the automatic uncoupling on my Kadee couplers.
Figuring out where to put the magnets for spurs is easy enough.
My question is, where should I locate the magnets for a runaround track so that I can perform thhe uncoupling for the runaround moves automatically?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Bob
Hard to say without seeing a specific plan, but it should be easy enough to figure out. Just perform the move manually a few times and put the magnet where you end up uncoupling the cars manually.
Follow up, the magnets are under the rails and cut away the center ties OR the new magnets are stronger and are 100% under the rails? Dumb question but it has been 30 years since I put one in!!!
Make sure you have a straight section on both sides of the magnet, at least as long as the longest car or engine you plan to uncouple there.
The ones I am familiar with just sit flat on the top of the ties, no cutting required. I don’t think the design has changed, but I haven’t installed any for 10 years or so either. This is because on all the layouts I operate on, we have become fed up with them and are becoming experts on taking them out.
TZ - That’s good to know, but how do you uncouple?
Question - on top of the rails or under the ties?
Answer - both of the above. I purchased both types in a single visit to a LHS yesterday, so that I can experiment with them. After testing both, I observed the following:
The above-tie type opened the couplers satisfactorily and didn’t give me any false uncouplings. Unsecured, they stuck themselves to the bottoms of steel weighted cars.
The below-tie type sucked slack into my steel-weighted cars, then pulled the couplers hard over - too far for delayed uncoupling. Obviously, more space is needed between the ties and the magnet - how much remains to be determined. Equally obviously, some kind of drop-down device will be required to keep the couplers linked when through movements are desired.
My experience with the on-top-of-the-ties magnets is that they work well, but on Code 100 Flex Track they don’t sit quite low enough, and some locomotives (notably the P2K S1 switcher) actually run aground on them. I had to grind down the ties to get them to sit even with the rail tops, where they still work very well.
Does anyone have experience with electromagnet uncouplers? I think I might install some of those on the main line where I want to do uncoupling, but I don’t want permanent magnets because I want to avoid accidental uncoupling at slow speed or just when stopping and starting.