Magnet Problems...

Hi,

looks like your magnet is just a t> Hmmmm...

I would think about a car built much like those snow-plows (with a shield in front of everything) and the magnet just behind that shield - so that the stuff from in front of the wagon does not get into the leading truck - and it might be a good idea to enclose the leading truck sidewards also, to prevent stray metal coming from the side derailing the car... It might be necessary to build the shield flat (seen from above) and tilting backwards (seen from the side), to prevent the metal stuff sliding to the side and from there into the truck ;-)

side view:

/-------\ Dump | / MAGNET |-------------| Plastic shield, top and dump space /---T-----BALLAST-----T----C Underframe / O---O O---O Trucks

---------------------------------Track

Top view

---------------------------- Sidewall | | || | | | || Dump |-C | | || |

---------------------------- Sidewall

That setup has a "dump space" behind the magnet - probably just for looks ;-) There are side walls projecting over the actual body to prevent bits and pieces being "pushed off the side" and I'm not sure whether the amplifying effect should be used for the "shield" or not, but probably the magnetic ballast is beneficial (as long as you can work around the uncoupling magnet problem).

Not sure about it, but would it work to have a non-ferrous metal below the car to deflect the magnetic field lines? Or to use two magnets (in conjunction with the magnetic ballast) like a U-Magnet aligned to the front or upwards (with the least force acting down). Try putting two magnets on a piece of scrap metal (with a plastic or wooden dowel to prevent them sliding together). Lay this on your flat car and try how you need to align it to get the least down force but still sufficient cleaning ;-)

Thanks for sharing the experience ;-)

Well, you COULD get some smaller or less powerful magnets and try the same idea.

Bwhahahaha! (there ya go!)

Flatcar? You think it will move? Stainless steel rails? Kadee magnets under the track? Frogs?

Can't wait for the flatcar results. Helpers? LOL!

On 8/25/2009 10:28 PM Twibil spake thus:

Heh; got to admit I got a pretty big chuckle out of this story (a little model-railroad schadenfreude?)

Bernard's suggestion sounds good, similar to what I was thinking: push the cleanup car at the front of the consist and somehow keep the junk from piling up around the leading truck. (Plus a less-powerful magnet.)

Ha! Called it.

Your best best is either a weaker magnet, or some distance between the business end of the magnet and the track. Double the distance, quarter the pulling power. The weights you can switch to lead. *

Does stainless steel get used for HO rails? Nickel Silver doesn't seem to be very magnetic, if at all.

Track pins and metal scenery could definitely get you in trouble though. *

On 8/26/2009 10:32 AM PV spake thus:

Hey--brain flash*: if the rails were somehow magnetized, you could build your own scale model of a maglev train!

So here's where I get to ask you about your mysterious handle, "PV". How is it "Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews"?

Just curious.

Too easy.

To uphold the true spirit of Usenet I can't admit to having been wrong about anything, and therefore must keep piling more mistakes atop the first until either the whole thing collapses of it's own weight or I move to Oz.

No, no! I said *hysterical* laughter, not *evil*! (Snidely Whiplash would be proud of you, though!) ~Pete

PV is my initials, which I've gone by for several decades.

As for the quote, google is your friend. *

Do remember that most accidents happen in the home, and falls are a major cause of accidental* death of the elderly (* unless of course, they're pushed), so do be careful where you sit.

On 8/27/2009 9:04 AM PV spake thus:

Ah, so. Thanks for clearing that up.

Slithy toves, indeed.

And little lambsy divey ...