I unpacked my teenage layout after 30 years. I remember going through a genuine wooden cigar box of scrap parts, mostly metal junk like old hook-and-loop couplers, throwing out junk.
Some time later, I was refurbishing my ancient Vollmer flood loader for coal hoppers. It had a solenoid driven pair of chute doors. Wouldn't you know it, I recognized the missing solinoid core as I part I had discarded.
I took the other solinoid core to my Local Hardware Store. The guy working that aisle knew exactly what I needed. It was a part from an ordinary door lock, and to my amazement it fit like a glove. That day, I had both chutes fully functional.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.