Coupling and uncoupling

Coupling is usually hands free, unless you need to align the couplers for some reason (avoid trying to couple on curves). Move the cars together, the couplers take care of the rest.

Uncoupling is a different story. With Kadee couplers you'll see the term "Magne-matic™" tossed around. That's because those big curved pins below them are steel or similar ferrous metal and react to magnets. If you know where you are going to be uncoupling a lot of cars, you put down an uncoupling magnet (there are a variety) there and move the cars to be uncoupled back and forth a bit over it to uncouple them. I've never done it this way.

For manual uncoupling, short the "big hook from the sky" method where you lift the cars apart, you can stick a slender, pointed, rod down in between the coupler knuckles, give it a twist, and if you are skilled, lucky, or simply having a good day, the couplers will spring apart. If they don't, try again. Kadee sells an uncoupling pick (#241 https://kadee.com/htmbord/page241.htm)  and I own a couple, but a bamboo kitchen skewer works just as well normally.

There are some DCC uncouplers on the market. Pretty expensive, and I can't help but think that they are probably pretty finicky as well. I don't believe I've seen them in use on an operational model railroad.

Uncoupling

Thanks Jeff for a clear explanation of options.

Jeff, mentioned he has not

Jeff, mentioned he has not used the magnets. I have and so you can see how they work I have included a video that also advocates adding weight to freight cars. The video was made at my Railroad club in commerce TX. The commercial is for an industry named after one of our members and it has become the joke that will not die.

I will share the story about it when you stop in for a visit on Saturday.

uncoupling magnets also attract metal wheels

fixed magnet uncoupling ramps may not work as expected with cars having metal wheels because when the loco pulls away the magnet pulls the metal truck wheels toward the ramp, toward the loco and the coupler re-couples.

Wheels

Only if the wheels are tin or iron.  Brass or a non-ferrous metal won't do that.  More likely are the axles.  Many entry level cars have plastic wheels on steel axles.  The magnets will attract the steel axles and position the truck over the magnet.  Actually if you bury magnets under the track and forget to mark where it is before you ballast, that's a way to find the magnet.  Slowly roll an Athearn blue box truck with steel axles a over the area and the magnet will pull the truck over it.

As far as uncoupling goes the most common "remote" uncoupling system is Kadee.  A magnet can be positioned under the track and when a pair of couplers are positioned over it, and slack is taken (cars pushed together), the magnet will cause the curved "air hoses" to repel each other, swing apart and uncouple the cars.  

You can also use "delayed" uncoupling.  Un couple on a magnet, then push the two cars together with the couplers over the magnet, they won't couple and then you can push the car wherever you want, when the engine pulls away, the uncoupled cars stay (hopefully).

There are ways of turning the magnets "on and off".  You can install electromagnets instead of permanent magnets under the track, then use a switch to turn on the magnet.  A magnet can also be mechanically "turned off" by changing its position.  If you put the magnet on a slide under the tracks and pull the magnet off center by about half, the magnet will no longer uncouple the cars.  Similarly, you can rotate the magnet to the side or drop it below the track on a hinge to "turn off" the magnet.  Magnets only uncouple if the poles are aligned across the tracks, so if you make the magnet rotate 90 degrees so the poles line up with the tracks, the magnet won't work.

Many modelers use Kadee couplers because of their looks and reliability, but don't use the magnetic uncoupling feature.  Typically some sort of bamboo skewer (or swizzle stick) or blade (or small screwdriver) is placed in the knuckles and twisted to uncouple them.

There is another fairly popular system called Sargent couplers, they are scale couplers and have a tiny steel ball in the coupler head that locks the coupler closed.  A magnetic wand is placed over the coupler to raise the ball and uncouple the cars.  however the couplers don't necessarily automatically couple, you may have to put the wand on the cars to open the knuckle before you couple them.

Magnets may or may not work

Magnets may or may not work well depending on what kinds of operation you're after.  I've seen them work pretty well at a hump yard throat and it a couple other spots.  And they're really the only choice if you want to uncouple out of comfortable arms reach.  But most of the layouts I operate on use bamboo skewers - one of them started with magnets, but removed them due to too many unintended uncouplings (it's surprisingly easy to unintentionally get enough slack to let the magnet uncouple).

With any uncoupling approach things will work better with smoothly functioning couplers.  Gummed up, sticky, painted, etc. couplers require more effort, and may even sustain damage from excessive force required to pry open a knuckle.

Edited to add: Some time ago I posted some photos on my blog about uncoupling O scale cars, here's one of those photos showing how you use a skewer - get slack, stick the skewer in the hole, and twist.  Same approach for HO and N, but with a skinnier skewer.

I made a short video showing how to uncouple using a skewer

Magnets do not move my cars

Magnets do not move my cars with metal wheels. Cars roll very easily. Electro-magnets work well and have the advantage of being on or off. They also do not require moving a string of cars with your hand to separate them. For those of you that like the skewers you have a fairly good alternative. In reality a combination of the two might provide a great solution. I detail lots of my models and having them handled tends to break things.

If you are using models with out lots of detail the skewers and handling that seems to go along with that is a great choice. If on the other hand you build more detailed equipment and or models keeping hands and other things out of the layout area is a beneficial thing.

I like to use magnets. In H0,

I like to use magnets.

In H0, my favourites are the 3mm cube Neodymium magnets.   If your track is well secured, and the trackbed is firm, you can replace ties with strings of five magnets. I find replacing three or four ties works well for me.

I've also used the magnet strings between ties. With a bit of paint they're very hard to see.

All you need to do is make sure that all strings of five are aligned in the same north-south attitude.

They're hard to glue down once there's another string nearby. You really need a firm base underneath and some fast-acting glue, but they work wonderfully well.

Mike

Magnets and Momentum?

My switchers are set with relatively high momentum.  I don't use magnets.  I've tried to imagine the typical stop-move for slack-now move again for uncoupling sequence with high momentum.  I think it would be painful, or at least pretty annoying after the first few times.

I could be wrong - I haven't actually tried it.  Maybe someone that uses magnets with high momentum and brake settings will chime in.

gs

I don't like using magnets . . .

I operate a shelf layout where reach is not an issue. My train(s) are operated with a two-man crew. As such, I want the crew to experience the tasks that the real train crews of 1927 experienced. This is a huge part of experiencing realism while operating the train.

One of the tasks the brakeman had to do was align couplers so that the engineer could back onto the car and couple to it. So, if couplers do not align on their own, all the better as the brakeman will align them. 

Another task of the brakeman was to pull the cut lever so that the couplers would uncouple when the engineer eased away. Obviously we are not yanking coupler cut levers in my operation, but we do use wood skewers to reach between cars to twist the couplers to uncouple cars. This works VERY well and represents the task of pulling a couple cut lever.

These coupling and uncoupling actions add to the realism of operating a train while switching an industry or a town. I love it and want it no other way. Because of this I do NOT want any automatic uncoupling on my layout. I see auto uncoupling as unrealistic.

OK. That said, there are many layouts where this does not work simply because of the layout design placing industries too far away from the aisle to reach in with a skewer to align couplers or to uncouple cars. To me, this is a good reason to avoid building a bench layout and to build a shelf layout. My layout is a 24" wide shelf. I will soon be building a new layout that will be an 18" shelf. That is plenty wide and will make "manually" coupling and uncoupling cars even easier.

Jim Six 

That said, piling on

I've been thinking about this a great deal and Jim has captured my thinking quite precisely. In my case I've found the skewer method has worked so well on my 16" shelves that I'm enlarging them to 18" on the next phase. 

THAT said, Mike's neodymium cubes-installed-to-mimic-ties solution (with perfect ballast size IMO) suggests an elegant approach for those with hard-to-reach car spots. Great idea!

Jeff Allen

"Another task of the brakeman

  I like the time manual  uncoupling adds to the operating session. I like to uncouple the cars then hand signal the engineer to move forward or backward as the situation requires. I spent many hours watching the old SP guys do that in the yard.....DaveB

Another task of the brakeman

AMEN Dave! The time it takes for the brakeman to align couplers or uncouple cars adds to the realism and feel of the operation. Such operation draws the operator into the operation making him an integral part of it all.

I LOVE IT!!!

Jim

Just to show they actually

Just to show they actually work.  The magnets are between the ties.

Skewers are fine. I use 'em too. Magnets are fun.

Magnets ON a skewer?

I have been quite pleased with the Rix Uncoupler. It’s basically 2 magnets on a plastic handle. So sort of a combination of magnets and skewers  

https://rixproducts.com/product/rix-uncoupling-tool-ho/

jeff

Rix magnet uncoupler not really a skewer as far as operation

With the magnet uncoupler you straddle the couplers with the tool while with a skewer you insert the skewer into the coupler.

Magnets

The one place I like magnets is on a class yard lead at the clearance point of each class track on the switch engine end (end primarily used for classification).  

You can set the switch engine to a low speed, little or no momentum and then switch the cut with just the reversing lever.  Yah, yah, I know "its not prototypical".  But neither is shove to rest at 3 mph.  I've worked in flat classification yards before RCL, they kicked cars and using the reverser is about as close to that as you can get.

Any place else they are generally a pain in the butt.

Momentum and brakes

When switching in 1:1 scale, holding on to a large string of cars, getting slack to be able to pull the pin can be annoying.  With a short string of cars, or light engine, it isn't bad at all, depending on how fast the engine wants to change direction.  I've had engines that take 2 seconds to drop into neutral after centering the reverser.  That gets annoying. 

Getting slack usually just takes 1 or 2 notches on the throttle, just a little movement, maybe 5 or 10 feet.  Depending on grades and other conditions at the location of the switching, having brakes set can make things go easier. 

Older engines usually move a bit quicker than most people realize.  I've heard stories of crews using Fairbanks-Morse switchers, that if you weren't onboard the cars when giving the sign to move, you weren't getting on, account how quick they loaded and moved.  GP7s had a Switch mode, so that when the engineer opened the throttle to notch 1 or 2, it would load up to 600-700 amps and get moving.  ALCos were known for quick loading as well, causing the usual smoke as the prime mover tried to catch up with the load placed, turbo lag.  The older guys had work to do... 

Higher momentum settings may not be appropriate in many cases.  When switching, stopping can be very important, to get the car on spot, and to avoid pushing off the end of the track.

I’ve watched them kicking

I’ve watched them kicking cars switching the Gang Mills yard near Corning, NY and it’s pretty depressing to compare what happens on the real thing to a model rr.  No way to match that majestic super slow seemingly endless roll down the ladder and on into a track, eventually the boom as it couples onto whatever’s already in the track.  Often long after the crew has managed to kick at least one or possibly two more cars.

And of course as I’m sure you know when kicking cars one of the goals is to not get past the switch(es) they’re lining to sort out the cars, at least the limited number of times I got to watch cars being kicked they were always uncoupled well before the clearance point, almost always before the switch points.  They don’t like to have to pull back past the points.

Anyway, on NS at least that all came to and end some time ago - they’re required to shove to a stop now.  Much easier to model that.

Magnet,no more any trouble with them

Some topics are like seasons, they come back again after a few months; I see again some topics about magnet and uncoupling  debate for Kadees and clones couplers.

I think, this so easy and clever way to use permanent magnet is ok to be bring back on the site because of the revival of such discussion.

So easy and so clever, you can't imagine !!!!,

ENJOY,

A few years  ago, a good friend of me, was in the way to install permanent  Kadee Magnet uncoupler on his layout.

He made a mistake when putting one in place, but this mistake was in fact like an "EUREKA".

The magnet does'nt work, and after a few observation, the conclusion was so idiot, just before us !

You can imagine how it's simple, and after this mistake we have speak a lot about this so idiot way to use magnet, we never understand who it's possible such so simply trick was never used or proposed for a permanent uncoupler for Kadee couplers or clones.

When you put a  Kadee magnet  in the normal position under the track, the couplers which comes over the magnet uncouple, we all know it, the only trouble about permanent magnet is when a  train is passing over the magnet, sometimes a car uncouple even if you are not asking to uncouple.

And........         

If you just turn under the track the magnet 90°, no more uncoupling, because, the magnet field of the magnet need to be aligned between the two rails of the track to uncouple , if you move this field 90°, the field has no more effect on the couplers when he is perpendicular to the track.

No need of a system which need to activate the  lowering of  the magnet, or with a hinge and all the quiet clever mecanism which were proposed over the years  since Kadee couplers exist.

Before you take a look at the pictures, if you have the Tools, install the device take no more time as a conventional installation,it's may be quicker;  building the little device which hold the magnet no more than 20mns, but you have a permanent uncoupler for few bucks which uncouple when you are asking for. Adjustement are minimalist.

Drill a hole with a circular saw in the axe of the middle of the track.

The round countours of the magnet are done whith a sand belt when the magnet is glued on the metalic plate.

the device itself is just a magnet glued on  his metallic plate, rounded as mentionned,  a small hole in the center of the metallic plate, a brass rod with a few nuts and washers to adjust the height, a small piece of plywood as an under the roadbed support, a few hole and the device is ready to go under the track.

If you are asking  to ballast the hole area, a piece of extremely fine "mika" is put Under the track to close the hole; I use plastic from translucide folder used to put "tax papers and invoice " as a plug for the hole, thickness is under 0,01 mm and don't affect the magnet field, I glue ballast as usual.

There are two way to move the magnet, a arm, fixed of the outside of the magnet with a simple lock system, like figured on Jacques pictures, or directly on the center shaft, with a arm which give the move ( the way I do).

Since the rounded magnet is the same diameter as the drilled hole, nearly no adjustment.

There is no alteration  of the "magnetic" qualities of the magnet doing this way.

The system is ok for all scales; you can substitue Kadee magnet with your own as I do, see pictures.

The rotary movement is done with a small arm attached to the shaft or on the magnet, a cable or any design of push rod will work, you say easy ?

And if your magnet is really far from the edge of the layout, you can easily consider the use of a servo to turn the magnet only 90°; a Tam valley servo turnout control can do the trick; this way a DCC working one is also possible.

Enjoy....., and a big thank you to my friend Jacques Leplat; hope he make such other "EUREKA" mistake in the future !!!

This is a magnet which is placed in the conventionnal way Under the track ( Nscale), coupler is open over the magnet

Second picture, the magnet is turn 90°, no more uncoupling because the magnet field is not in the good way

A device which use a HO Kadee permanent magnet, ( J. Leplat pictures)

First drill a hole Under the track with a disk saw (J. Leplat pictures)

Put the magnet glued on the metalic plate in the hole ( J. Leplat pictures)

This is a view of the device Under the roadbed ( J. Leplat pictures), any device, from a push rod to a servo can push the small brass rod to turn only 90° the magnet

Following a sketch of the system and how it works,

The late Wolfgang Dudler put

The late Wolfgang Dudler put one on a slide that he could move with a lever. It could operate either of two tracks and stop between them. No unwanted uncoupling and he was able to use one magnet for two tracks.

@ Rob

Yes I meet in person this late great modeler at a train show, his uncoupler were clever, I followed on his site the construction and the installation; this was before  my friend make this "mistake"

But don't forget,

- They need considerable work to be installed,

- A slide or a drawer need a lot of pieces to be constructed.

- They are big time consumming to be constructed and put in place,

- They need adjustment and no benchwork obstruction to be installed,

- The slide system, or drawer, need big space between track to avoid any uncoupling on the adjacent track, 

- The field of the magnet is  always "on" to uncouple.

We must admit this one is so easy to use and to do.

And don't ask for any big construction, big time consumming and no adjustements; enough to be mentionned as one of the clever and easy uncoupler to do.

My problem with magnets is

My problem with magnets is mostly the unprototypical operation they require.  Try spotting a cut of 50’ boxcars at a warehouse with doors spaced for 60’ cars.  Easy to do prototypically with a skewer, with a magnet a lot of extra back and forthing is needed.

I suppose you could put a rotating magnet (neat idea by the way) carefully positioned to be effective for both 50 and 60’ cars at each door spot.  Doing a whole switching layout up with that approach would risk turning an op session into more of a magent rotating operation than a railroad switching operating. 

N scale certainly is trickier than HO and O for skewer uncoupling.  It’s not bad once you get the hang of it, but troublesome for guest operators used to HO.