Subject:
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Automatic decoupler designs?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Thu, 6 Jan 2000 13:03:41 GMT
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Viewed:
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1135 times
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LEGO train knuckles don't lend themselves to decoupling. Has anyone got a good
design (either as part of a switch engine or fixed to the track) design for an
automated separator?
I'm close to an in-engine (but very ugly) solution which can pry a neighboring
car off far enough to escape it. On straight track I've found you can reliably
tow a car around which is held 1/2" or more away from the magnets, so you've
got to be quick or push the car pretty far away!
For a switch engine I'm also thinking about hand winding an electromagnet to
replace the couplers. It would be driven by an RCX output
I haven't played much with an on-track mechanism, but the best bet seems to be
prying the magnets apart sideways, since the forces involved in pushing cars
apart exceed the force required to derail a car, and applying that force
accurately is tough.
--Ben
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Automatic decoupler designs?
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| GMLTC had a design for uncoupling, and there have been others posting here speaking of this. Not much hard info is available on the GMLTC design in terms of pictures, but it uses horizontal prying, as you suggest. The idea of a switch engine with an (...) (25 years ago, 6-Jan-00, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: Automatic decoupler designs?
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| On Thu, 6 Jan 2000, Ben Jackson (<Fnx0A5.L6I@lugnet.com>) wrote at 13:03:41 (...) Has anyone thought of using an electromagnet at track level to overpower the magnetic coupling? I've no idea if this would be practical, and it's non-LEGO, but it (...) (25 years ago, 6-Jan-00, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: Automatic decoupler designs?
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| I was working on a hump yard decoupler and was playing around with adding mags to the track using the 2x2 tile that has clips to hold the mag. What's really cool is how you can make a train car hop over the mag on the track. All this play was big (...) (25 years ago, 6-Jan-00, to lugnet.trains)
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