Magnetic uncouplers - under track

[Anonymous]

My daughter and I are building our first N scale mini empire together. We are basing the design on the one described in the "N scale model railroad that grows" book from Kalmbach. Being the eager beaver that I am, I decided that I wanted to go to Phase three right away and just wait on building the mountain.

We have completed the initial track layout and I have set out the blocks and soldered the sections together. I am preparing to paint the track and then we will begin laying down the roadbed. In the book, they use the Kadee magnetic uncouplers, but I have also been reading the book "N scale model railroading" from Kalmbach and in their layout they use under track uncouplers.

My question, for now, at least, can any of you recommend a good under track uncoupler? I have done some research on the topic and haven't seen much in the N scale department. I believe that Kent and Ric used rare earth magnets that they purchased from a company unrelated to model railroading and I have been unable to turn up the company that they mention in the book, at least online.

I must say that I like the clean looks of the uncoupler when it is mounted in the track bed instead of between the rails.

Well, I think that that is a long enough post for a first timer. I look forward to hearing back.

Thanks,
Thom and Lisa Smith

[CP5170]

Lee Vallet Tools Ltd sell earth magnets in a variety of sizes. I've seen them used on HO layout quite effectively. Their website is www.leevalley.com

I have used Kadee under track magnets on my HO layout. I found them to be quite strong and would draw the car. Consequently, I would suggest testing the location of the magnet before permanently mounting so that the cars are clear of the turnouts.

Hope this helps...Ken

[Anonymous]

I used the Kadee HO underground magnets on my N-scale layout, and they work fine with roadbed, track, and ballast above it. I haven't had a chance to try others.

But there are some considerations to using magnets, whether above or below ground.

1) The knuckle couplers that come with some N-scale cars nowadays seem to work fine with the Micro-train couplers, except they do not uncouple with the magnets. So if you want to use delayed uncoupling, you will have to equip every car and locomotive with MT couplers.

2) Cars with steel weights and metal wheelsets will be drawn to these uncouplers like... well, magnets. You will have to replace those with non-magnetic weight, and plastic wheels.

3) If you have such a magnetic uncoupler under a mainline, or other track where a train will regularly run, cars may occasionally uncouple when you run over the magnets. There are ways to basically eliminate this, like using MT's restrictor springs on the trucks of cabooses (or whichever car is at the end of your train), and making sure your cars run as smooth as possible. Since I'm constantly making train movements over these magnets with all sorts of combinations of cars, I've gone ahead and put restrictor springs on all of the cars.

So basically, you can make them work fine, but remember that it will take a little more effort. It's worth it for me, but it's not for everyone.

Good luck!

---jps

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the insight on this. There were things that I hadn't even considered, like metal wheels... I did finally manage to track down the S&L Industries under track uncouplers.

For those that might read this later and want the info, http://www.blwnscale.com/S&L%20Uncoupler.htm is where I found them.

Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Thom