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Self coupling air hoses HO scale! Locos and rolling stock
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Moderator 2,263 posts Nelsonb111563 Moderator 2,263 posts
Nelsonb111563

Stumbled across these on e-bay and watched the YouTube video.  Intersting detail item.

 

Nelson Beaudry,  Principle/CEO

Kennebec, Penobscot and Northern RR Co.
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George J Frequent poster 741 posts
George J

Hmmm...

I like it!

George

"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers, ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."

Milwaukee Road : Cascade Summit- Modeling the Milwaukee Road in the 1970s from Cle Elum WA to Snoqualmie Summit at Hyak WA.
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Prof_Klyzlr Moderator 7,943 posts
Prof_Klyzlr

Add another on the list...

Dear Nelson,

So, tallying up
- Sergeant couplers
- Proto87 Turnouts
- Fairway airhoses
- and NWSL P87 wheelsets

Sounds like a recipe for a high-grade diesel-era P87 "cameo" layout...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS a quick google turns up no obvious links... :-(
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robteed Frequent poster 865 posts
robteed

Hmmmm

Looks cool, until you get them reversed. I assume magnets .

Rob Teed

Rob Teed

Railyard Productions

http://www.youtube.com/user/dreambuilders48808?feature=mhee

http://www.modelrailroadtech.com

http://railyardproductions.com
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pipopak Frequent poster 894 posts
pipopak

Now what about......

....... the hiss of the air escaping when hoses part?.

_______________________

Long life to Linux The Great!
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Benny MRH Author 7,112 posts
Benny

...

Sound decoder in every car?

--------------------------------------------------------

Benny's Index or Somewhere Chasing Rabbits
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Prof_Klyzlr Moderator 7,943 posts
Prof_Klyzlr

Sound in cars

Dear MRHers,

Already done, Athearn has the sound-equipped ARMN reefer, LifeLike had the cattle cars decades ago, and the LayoutSound team on YahooGroups have been custom-programming Digitrax Soundbugs and similar in down-to-N-scale cars...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr
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Bernd MRH Author 5,510 posts
Bernd

Yeeaaa,

I was wondering the same thing. Opposites poles attract, like poles repel. Guess you can only couple one way then.

Bernd

New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds - NCSWIC
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pipopak Frequent poster 894 posts
pipopak

Magnets

All magnets have both poles on them. When mating 2 hoses with different poles at the ends they will connect at the end tips, otherwise they will end somewhat crooked.

_______________________

Long life to Linux The Great!
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Jurgen Kleylein Prolific poster 1,119 posts
Jurgen Kleylein

too strong?

It looks to me as though the magnets are so strong that if you tried to pull away slowly from a single car after uncoupling you could drag that car by its hose.  It might be a problem for prototypical switching, which is what this is primarily intended for. 

It's an interesting idea, and certainly better looking than Kadee trip pins.

Jurgen

HO Deutsche Bundesbahn circa 1970

Visit the HO Sudbury Division at http://sudburydivision.ca/

The preceding message may not conform to NMRA recommended practices.
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George J Frequent poster 741 posts
George J

I don't think so

I don't think magnets that small would have the strength to drag a properly weighted car - especially if the bearings were less than perfectly clean. Even if they were, many people put a finger lightly on top of the car they are uncoupling to hold it in place anyhow, so I don't really think it would be a problem.

George

"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers, ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."

Milwaukee Road : Cascade Summit- Modeling the Milwaukee Road in the 1970s from Cle Elum WA to Snoqualmie Summit at Hyak WA.
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Sn2modeler Regular poster 101 posts
Sn2modeler

The pole of the magnet might

The pole of the magnet might not be at the end.  The poles could be oriented left to right enabling the cars to be reversed.  I've posted the question to the youtube video.
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David Husman dave1905 MRH Author 9,773 posts
David Husman dave1905

Reality?

Considering challenges coupling cars on tracks that are not perfectly level or straight and may have variation in height, I would question whether they are truly "self coupling".  If a couple miss aligns by 2-3 scale inches on a 9" wide knuckle face its not a deal killer. If the air hoses miss align by 2-3" on a air hose that's 2-3" wide, that could be a 100% mismatch.  Throw in the short car-long car issues and having to build out air hose brackets on cars with cushioned draft gear that extend from the car body, its a lot stickier wicket than a simple coupling of two similar cars on straight and level track.  Not saying it can't be done, but its not as simple as one might imagine.

Dave Husman

Visit my website :  https://wnbranch.com/

Blog index:  Dave Husman Blog Index
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Nelsonb111563 Moderator 2,263 posts
Nelsonb111563

Not adding them.

I looked at them and although it's an interesting detail, I woudln't add them to my freight cars anytime soon.  I have a hard enough time keeping up with stirrup step repairs and broken grab irons.  Besides, it looks like you need to cut off the trip pin and I use the Kadee magnets and Rix tool for uncoupling.

Nelson Beaudry,  Principle/CEO

Kennebec, Penobscot and Northern RR Co.
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Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,774 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Response from seller

 

I asked the seller about these.  First of all, whether they could be installed so that they had to be manually-connected, as on the prototype.  Their answer:
 
"I don't think so but you can try the Magnets are strong for there size"
 
Second question, does equipment have to face a certain direction?
 
"If they are installed correctly you can turn them around 180 degrees and they will still connect."
 
 
I'm not entirely sure that manually connecting these would be possible anyway.  Doing so would seem to require you to reach horizontally between/under cars - next to impossible in many areas unless you happen to be on a track adjacent to the aisle.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
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Prof_Klyzlr Moderator 7,943 posts
Prof_Klyzlr

drag devices

Dear Jurgen, I know I already add "drag devices" to each car to smooth out the behaviour of Kadee-based switching, the "inertia" effects added would I suspect mitigate any such issues... Besides which, wouldn't be the first time a brakeline gladhand has "failed to release" automatically (albeit with more damaging results that the model versions)... Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,509 posts
Michael Tondee

Nice idea I guess...

But I wouldn't bother with them because I think there would be issues. I'd rather just focus on reliable coupling and uncoupling.  Some might not agree with me but I think there can be such a thing as " too much realism" sometimes.

Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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John Winter Prolific poster 1,001 posts
John Winter

"I Guess","I think", "I'm not entirely sure"....

How about a post from someone who has purchased them, installed them, used them and has actually experienced the product. I'm just sayin... John

My Layout Blog: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/22280
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George J Frequent poster 741 posts
George J

Deal Breaker

Quote:

Besides, it looks like you need to cut off the trip pin and I use the Kadee magnets and Rix tool for uncoupling.

I don't think they would play well with Kadee uncoupling magnets or the Rix uncoupling tool!

George

"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers, ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."

Milwaukee Road : Cascade Summit- Modeling the Milwaukee Road in the 1970s from Cle Elum WA to Snoqualmie Summit at Hyak WA.
Reply 0
Greg Amer gregamer Regular poster 496 posts
Greg Amer gregamer

Definitely Cool

If I were to run mainline trains I'd add these.

 
Greg Amer The Industrial Lead

MRH Blog Index
Reply 0
Kevin Rowbotham Prolific poster 2,336 posts
Kevin Rowbotham

I Wonder...

How would these magnetic hoses affect the operation of Sergent couplers?  Sergents use a magnetic uncoupling tool.  I wonder if the hose magnets would interfere with the operation of the couplers?

The look really good...

Edit: I could not resist the temptation and went ahead and bought some to check them out first hand.

~Kevin

Appreciating Modeling In All Scales but majoring in HO!

Not everybody likes me, luckily not everybody matters.
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Prof_Klyzlr Moderator 7,943 posts
Prof_Klyzlr

Magnetic flux

Dear MRHers,

Remember that magnetic flux follows the inverse-square law,
IE for a doubling of the distance between the magnets,
(or the magnet and the iron-based item the magnet is "pulling on")
the available "pull" force is halved.

In practical terms, with magnets that small, their effect on Sergeants couplers is going to be minimal-to-non-existant over the distance shown, Recall that it takes a rare-earth magnet _right_on_top_ of the Sergeants coupler head to lift the ball to uncouple, and this is by design...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr
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DKRickman Prolific poster 3,069 posts
DKRickman

Link, please?

I can't find them on ebay.  Can somebody please post a link to the seller or auction.  I'd like to see how much they cost, etc.

Ken Rickman

Danville & Western HO modeler and web historian

http://southern-railway.railfan.net/dw/
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Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,774 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Link

Quote:

I can't find them on ebay.  Can somebody please post a link to the seller or auction.  I'd like to see how much they cost, etc.

Here you go Ken:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271139362867&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:CA:1123

The current auction has ended, but I think they worked out to something like US$1.67/car.  I'd imagine they'll post more.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
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conrail079 Active Member 80 posts
conrail079

Wow, really cool

Read the title and said awww come on. Then I watched the video, looks like they work really well. Those are Cool. Another add to the list of items I will be up-dating.

Don Carman

Modeling Conrail in 1991, Pittsburgh Area, Digitrax / CMRI

mwheels2.gif     http://www.carmancraft.com/
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