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Post by blhs569 on Sept 16, 2023 7:11:26 GMT -8
Is anyone using these? Do they work well?
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Post by SOMECALLMETIM on Sept 16, 2023 7:16:23 GMT -8
From what I've read from other posts, that, yes, they do work. It can be done cheaper with rare-earth magnets and flexible tubing. I'll see if I can find the post that shows the construction of the homemade ones. I personally would never order from PWRS due to issues I've had in the past with them and the owner. These are the magnets: www.ebay.com/itm/333227700197?var=542240199787 |
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Post by schroed2 on Sept 16, 2023 8:01:06 GMT -8
From what I've read from other posts, that, yes, they do work. It can be done cheaper with rare-earth magnets and flexible tubing. I'll see if I can find the post that shows the construction of the homemade ones. I personally would never order from PWRS due to issues I've had in the past with them and the owner. These are the magnets: www.ebay.com/itm/333227700197?var=542240199787depends of the definition for "working". Coupling works (if everything is adjusted correctly), but my experience (with the older design prior to PWRS) was, that -after prototypical uncoupling by separation of the Kadee couplers only with a pin- the magnets liked to attach themselves to the coupler... |
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Post by snootie3257 on Sept 16, 2023 8:08:40 GMT -8
I always liked the line in their add: “They couple like the real thing”. I’ve never seen air hoses couple themselves on an actual real railroad.
Steve
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Post by blhs569 on Sept 16, 2023 12:39:11 GMT -8
Well you have to admit it would be very tedious to have to attach each brake hose while building 20+ car train, even if it is more prototypical. It would certainly make the yard jobs in an ops session take much longer.
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Post by mvlandsw on Sept 16, 2023 13:22:02 GMT -8
On free rolling cars they may not separate when the couplers are uncoupled.
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Post by champagnetrail on Sept 16, 2023 16:31:38 GMT -8
I remember when they first came out years ago. I've been waiting for some testimonials, myself. Been waiting a long time...
-pat
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Post by cpr4200 on Sept 16, 2023 16:49:25 GMT -8
They make mu cables (not hoses), too. Intriguing but I haven't tried them.
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Post by trainboyy on Sept 17, 2023 6:51:58 GMT -8
It's best to make your own. Magnets in that size are especially cheap, and you can use newer athearn bulb wire to create the air hoses/MU cables. Heck, you could even clip off the gladhand on a Hi Tech air hose and stick a small magnet there; since it's flexible rubber, it will bend and connect to the air hose in front of it.
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Post by champagnetrail on Sept 17, 2023 19:27:58 GMT -8
I must also admit to not wanting to deal with PWRS. And at a cost of roughly $4 per car, that won't be cheap to retrofit my collection with one more after-market expense. Not sure the coolness factor is high enough to warrant spending the cash. Maybe I could get tiny magnets for really cheap, but then it becomes one more task to get a freight car ready to put on the layout. Not sure the extra time cost is worth it relative to the coolness factor. And up until now, I just don't see a lot of discussion about them, so they must not be all that cool to most people. Not like sound-equipped locomotives or even the more prototypical-like couplers.
-pat
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Sept 18, 2023 1:37:42 GMT -8
Getting into the realm of gimmickiness here, IMHO.
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Post by mvlandsw on Sept 18, 2023 12:26:16 GMT -8
The coupled hoses look good in a train, but only with couplers without trip pins. Having two representations of hoses between the cars looks bad. That's the reason I have only anglecocks and no hoses on my cars. And I use the trip pins for uncoupling either manually or magnetically, and the air hoses interfere with that.
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Post by hudsonyard on Sept 18, 2023 21:06:10 GMT -8
Getting into the realm of gimmickiness here, IMHO.
lacing up a 25-30 car train would be fun exactly once.
i feel like unless you really weigh your cars, these hoses will drag the uncoupled car with them when you attempt to pull away. like a lot of these things like sound cars and the like, this is designed for someone who runs in circles, not an operating layout.
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abm
Junior Member
Posts: 65
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Post by abm on Sept 19, 2023 7:12:00 GMT -8
I think if I were assembling a dedicated consist... a unit train or passenger train, for example... these hoses (or some home-made version) might be a cool feature to add. I already run scale-head Kadees with the trip pins removed. But for cars subject to shuffling, switching etc I'm not sure it'd be worth the hassle and expense.
RE the sound cars, I have a single one, an Athearn UP Caboose. Just the other night I decided to see if it actually worked. I could NOT get the magnetic consisting switch to function like the instructions described but was able to program the address manually. It's basically got a somewhat dumbed-down Tsunami-1 onboard. It's kinda cool, for a couple minutes I guess, but really hard to get it to sync with nicely programmed locomotives (LS-5 decoders, momentum, braking, the works). Yeah "gimmick" came to mind. I think the concept needs a lot more work to be viable... maybe in the future as DCC migrates towards some kind of Bluetooth-like control?
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Post by fr8kar on Sept 19, 2023 7:30:47 GMT -8
Getting into the realm of gimmickiness here, IMHO. lacing up a 25-30 car train would be fun exactly once. i feel like unless you really weigh your cars, these hoses will drag the uncoupled car with them when you attempt to pull away. like a lot of these things like sound cars and the like, this is designed for someone who runs in circles, not an operating layout.
Now here's a case where the extra drag from <ducking my head> rotating bearing caps could be useful.  I have a couple of the mechanical reefer sound cars, but otherwise no other sound cars. They come on randomly and do a pretty good job simulating how the real cars operate. I don't know what other sounds might be emitted by sound-equipped cars, but if it's anything like coupler clanking or radio chatter I'm sure I can live without it. |
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Post by gevohogger on Sept 19, 2023 7:42:54 GMT -8
I think if I were assembling a dedicated consist... a unit train or passenger train, for example... these hoses (or some home-made version) might be a cool feature to add. I already run scale-head Kadees with the trip pins removed. But for cars subject to shuffling, switching etc I'm not sure it'd be worth the hassle and expense. My thoughts exactly. Any amount of switching would make them overly tedious I think.
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Post by middledivision on Sept 19, 2023 7:56:44 GMT -8
From what I've read from other posts, that, yes, they do work. It can be done cheaper with rare-earth magnets and flexible tubing. I'll see if I can find the post that shows the construction of the homemade ones. I personally would never order from PWRS due to issues I've had in the past with them and the owner. These are the magnets: www.ebay.com/itm/333227700197?var=542240199787This. The way he (did not) handle the Railbox fiasco turned me off on him. |
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Post by blhs569 on Sept 21, 2023 15:55:01 GMT -8
Thanks for all the participation, but I was hoping to hear from someone with actual experience in using them.
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Post by cemr5396 on Sept 21, 2023 16:20:14 GMT -8
Thanks for all the participation, but I was hoping to hear from someone with actual experience in using them. good luck with that. I have never heard of a single person that actually uses them. |
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