Hi, Try not to laugh at me too hard... I've been working on an Inglenook shunting puzzle. This is the first time I've ever built a layout using magnetic uncouplers, and cork for road bed, and I glued the cork down to a pine 1x10, then glued the track down to the cork. I've just about finished converting all my cars and engines to Micro Train couplers, and I'm ready to install the magnetic decouplers. I have 2 problems and I'm trying to find an easy solution for the second one. 1) How many uncouplers should I use on the Inglenook? and where should they be placed? I own 4 magnetic uncouplers. 2) The uncouplers are THICKER than the cork road bed. Had I realized that to begin with I would have used a router and made recesses in the board. I suppose I will just have to pull up the track and cork after marking where I want the uncouplers and route them out anyway. UNLESS someone comes up with a better idea. Thanks for any suggestions, Don PS: Let this be a lesson for any of you newbies to model railroading. ALWAYS get your track all nice and laid out temporarily and try it just a bit before you glue down anything.
Thanks Bill, Using a pick might be the simpler way, but I went to a lot of expense to convert to the other couplers, I want to at least try them out. I used to have a friend in Albuquerque NM named Bill Pearce back in 78. We road Harleys together.
I've done a little more research on uncouplers. Small 1/4" x 1/16" rare earth magnets will work. In the video I saw, the guy put 4, 2 under each rail making sure that opposition poles were up on opposite rails, same pole up on same rail. Ebay h a s 100 of them for $7.00. 1/8" thick would work too, but I can stack. 2 1/16" to get the height I need. Screw in 4 screws under where the rails go. Then glue magnets on top of screws.
I used to have a friend in Albuquerque NM named Bill Pearce back in 78. We road Harleys together.[/QUOTE] I have often wished I lived in albuquerque, but never have, and don't ride harleys, so It's not me. But I will suggest you will install magnets and soon become disenchanted with them, that's why I suggested you just get picks and be happy.
We have both the middle of the track magnetic uncoupler 1310 and the under track model...both can be found on the MTL web page. As for placement of the magnet, if you can post a drawing of your Inglenook we can help with the placement. I have a small one at home I'm working on and what I did was to do a few dry runs using the most common switching duties to establish where to put the magnet. When I established that, generally someplace on the trailing track I installed the 1310 and then made that the center of a road crossing...effectively hiding it.
I am working on an Inglenook myself. During my research I saw the video with cylindrical rare earth magnets and was very impressed. also saw one with cube magnets. Go to about 13o in the second video. Both look promising and you don't need to tear stuff down. Trey
Magnetic uncoupling generally means many unnecessary back and forth movements of a cut of cars to make everything happen. Or, move a cut of cars to where you want them, and use the pick, and bada-boom you're done.
I like dropping a cut of cars where I WANT...not where ever a magnet (always in the wrong place) is. Use a pick !!
I use a pick too, having given up early on trying to use magnets. Just need a light and eyes that are about 30 yrs younger for the picking to be infallible. Donald Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Well, I guess before I take it apart to put magnets under it, I can play with it and use picks. So much for hands free operation... LOL
Why not give the magnets a try? Yeah, I use a pick, but you've already got the magnets. Who knows? They might work perfectly for you, or you'll be able to tweak them simply to make them reliable. I built a temporary Inglenook for my granddaughter last summer. For an even smaller footprint, I used Atlas ore cars and a Bachman 44-tonner for power. Lego Ore Train by Rocket Jones posted Sep 3, 2016 at 8:39 AM Each ore car held a different color Lego brick for sorting, which was big fun for her.
I bet she had fun with that layout. My grand daughter had fun rolling the cars back and forth on the track. She lost interest real fast when the engines wouldn't run. Gotta buy a new motor for one. Cleaned the track and wheels for the other. Now I gotta solder the rail joints and leads and see if it will work. I will try the rare earth magnets trick they will be easier to install.
If you place one magnet on switch lead can delay uncouple. Then push car or cars where you want to drop. Back away from car and get next car. Have used the delayed action for hard to reach areas. Just one idea. Dan
On previous layouts, I've used the between-the-rails magnets, "hiding" them as grade crossings like Joe posted about above, used the under-the-track magnets when a grade crossing wasn't possible, and for a while tried 4 small rare earth magnets in 3 different industries on my current layout. But the back and forth action for delayed uncoupling and the ultimate use of a pick when magnets were less than 100% reliable, grew tiresome for me; so, for the 100+ industrial spots on my current layout, I only have 1 magnet (between-the-rails) for a hard to reach industry. For what it's worth... Of the 3 ways I've used uncoupling magnets, I think the invisible (under-the-tracks) magnet method yielded the best appearance on my layouts; and, operationally, uncoupling cars with a pick has been, by far, the quickest and most reliable method for me. For what it's worth #2... You can sharpen the base of a telephone pole or flag pole and sand it smooth to make an uncoupling pick, and then stick it in a hole to hide it in plain sight on your layout right next to where you want to use it.
I'm fine in my limited experience using both magnets and picks. Like mentioned above, the eyes have gotten a little less adept so there's a bit of a hassle in the picks for me. Using the thin rare earth magnets definitely is a cheap fix that's also less obtrusive than the big strip uncouplers. Hiding them in a grade crossing is an option you could look into as well. For what it's worth, when I had my small switching module, I used a Dremel and cut the magnets in half. I found with a good Atlas or Kato loco I didn't need all that space on the strip magnet to do switching moves. Also it made them a little less intrusive. I believe I even went so far when I needed one in a specific place to just Dremel the cork roadbed and ties out then stick sheet styrene underneath the magnet to get the height I needed. That was a lot of work, but I only did it in a few spots where I found after I had laid the track I needed an uncoupler, so the extra work wasn't so bad. Guess it boils down to what you want on a small layout. I'm voting for the rare earths because they're easily hidden and on a small shunting layout that can make a difference. You can place a small trackside sign like a derail or whatever so you know where they are. Let us know what you come up with. Always good to learn from others! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
