General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I think it was within the last year or two. Andy Sperendeo had an article showing how to bury the newer Kadee style electromagnetic uncoupler using a piece of plastic which was easier than the manufacturer's instructions.

Thanks in advance.

 (Am not using many of these on the layout but some locations are out of normal reach.)

I believe that article is also in the special issue "Build Realistic Reliable Track"

I found the special issue on building realistic track. The article within appears to be just a snippet of the original article in Model Railroder. IIRC, not only did Andy put a piece of styrene above the eletro-magnet but some below the magnet. I am interested in how he deviated from the instructions in mounting the magnet.

Can anyone help on the particulars or know what issue of Model Railroader it was in? I can't find it through the magazine index. I've got one to install to finish a section of the layout and the method that Kadee shows seems a bit laborious.

Is Andy out there somewhere? 

Thanks in advance 

Found it! Andy was kind enough to contact me via the LDSIG Yahoo group. It was on pages 10-11 of the Layout Planning Ideas Suppliment (Workshop Tips) booklet included with the 2008 Layout Design Planning magazine. (The front cover has a Green Bay & Western FA parked next to a 3 story, store front.)

I believe it is still available from Kalmbach. Andy's article was titled, "Plan for Uncoupling". He shows various styles of uncoupling magnets including the new Kadee 309 with good illustrative photos. Andy supported the plastic spacer strip for the 309 with .100" styrene strips for the 1" by 2-1/8" hole in the roadbed. But I suppose this will vary depending on how thick your make of roadbed is. ( The idea is to get the magnet as close to the underside of your ties as possible.) It looks as though he used cork roadbed in his example. (I'm using Homabed.) It appears that instead of cutting a slot in the roadbed, he just removed a section, then added the beveled side pieces later. Andy glued the components down rather than use screws or homemade brackets (if you want to remove it later) but he says that's OK too. He also used thin tracing paper over the magnet rather than aluminum foil before covering with ballast. This saves you from having ballast go down in the hole.

I am really happy that Kadee came up with an electromagent that is powerful enough to conceal under the ties. I tried to use the old Kadee eletromagnet and conceal it but it didn't work.It wasn't designed for below track mounting.  It was a frustrating experience. You can buy other brands of automatic couplers at a lower price but I'm hooked on Kadees' (pun intended). They are very durable for us guys that run long trains up an down helixes. I have also been in contact with someone over there and my query was answered promptly and courteously. You would expect a model train manufacturer to upgrade its products based on what model railroaders want, and Kadee does. Kadee is also proud of thier heritage and product line. Fortunately, most my uncoupling on the layout won't require magnets but it is helpful in those out of reach locations.