nhguy said:
And it costs too much! A package of skewer is much more cost effective.
I suppose it is all in the eye of the beholder. To me, a $500 brass engine costs too much yet there are those who love them. $150 for a craftsman structure is debatable as to cost effectiveness, yet there are plenty of them that have been bought.
A $30 Kadee boxcar is a beautiful thing, but not very cost effective when the same car can be represented by a $3 Life-Like item purchased off the scrap table at the swap meet.
I think the argument that uncoupling with a skewer is more realistic than uncoupling with a magnet is spurious at best. It just depends on point of view. To me, a giant hand with a giant "hickory stick" coming out of the sky is just as unrealistic as uncoupling with magnets.
For someone who places priority on "hands-off" railroad operations, the electromagnets are very reasonable. And, I have really enjoyed the engineering aspect of my whole endeavor, experimenting and modifying the things.
Hey, hope no-one takes my thoughts in this post wrong... I am having a lot of fun with you guys, especially Loren and Andrew, and others, with our discussions on uncoupling in several other threads. Whatever method of uncoupling each of us chooses is the right choice. There is no "wrong" option. And, as long as we are picking up and setting out cars and in general running our model railroads like the real thing, instead of just watching the trains go around in circles, then I am all for it!
And we NEED MORE DISCUSSION IN THE OPERATIONS FORUM!