Great use of an old idea. I remember magnetic couplings that my Lego trains had back in the 70s. Although those had clever swivelling magnets so they always ran North to South!!!
Saw these last night on DaveClass47's channel and was immediately interested. Thanks for the demonstration of fitting them Richard. Ordered some already. Cheers
This is brilliant, I have a full Shakespeare Express made up of 11 coaches and the coaches are all connected with the NEM Pipe couplings which makes it so tidious to split them but this is going to help so much Thanks
Interesting.. Hornby and Bachmann need to adopt a proper coupling for their models and agree on it. Nothing worse than brilliant models let down by a coupling from another century!!
I think the best you will get from them for now is NEM pockets, which allow them to use their own preferred coupling while maintaining compatibility with old stock & each other's products.
Hi Richard Great video and a good looking product. I'm wondering how well these would work on my helix, might have to try them out, although I'm not sure all my hst coaches have nem pockets!? Cheers Paul 👍
That is a great thing Richard so I went on my 3d printer and now am half way on making my own so thanks Richard what's this I've heard about your layout coming down??
To mark Hornby's centenary year wld be great if they cld include the nee magnetic couples in every release from this year. Wld be a way to revolutionize British Model Railway coupling system! As long as they can handle full rakes with jerks occurring at speeds...
Woah I will definitely be picking up some of these for my VTEC HST. Will these work for the class 91’s + Mk4 set and the Pendolino? It would be so cool if it did aha
Presumably because of the magnet's 'poles', you will need to orient them specifically for a train formation? Otherwise you could end up with couplers that repel each other. I guess this also applies, even if the vehicles are not in a formation, otherwise you'll find them repelling each other unless oriented correctly, North to South. Something to think about!
I have a HST with mixed NEM and tension lock MK3 coaches. Would I be able to join the tension lock hunt couplings with the NEM ones or would it not work due to height difference issues, ect. Thanks
Which way round do you have the cover? I’ve got some Hornby HST coaches with the thicker end over the coupler and others with the thinner end over, or does this not really matter?
Hello, do you know if it's possible to use these couplings on the Hornby Railroad 0-6-0 locomotives? And which coupling would you reccomend for Hornby Mk1s on third radius curves?
Certainly interesting these couplings. How do they behave when the locomotive is pushing ? Any derailments like with conventional couplings ? I have a Hornby Lord Rodney and BR Blue Class 87035 en put Bachmann couplings on because they have slightly shorter hooks and hence a bit closer. I personally think cadee couplings are very good but less realistic for European and British rolling stock. The Fleischmann Profi couplings are best (to my opinion) and you can also PUSH even longer rakes of wagons and coaches without fear of derailments ! Love my LN (or LR) with Zimo sound (sugarcube speaker in smokebox under the chimney, not the tender) and 87035 with Legomanbiffo sound, jobs very well done by Hornby.
Excellent idea if you have rakes of wagons or coaches that does not need to be split apart for a yes or a no (e. g. merry-go-round hopper trains). I pick this reference in cas I need some. Anyway, the only drawback I see is that due to magnetic polarity issue, they are unidirectional. I think, but maybe it is a bad idea, that it could be possible to avoir this by using a two-magnets head, side-by-side with A on the left of the coupler and B on the right. With smaller magnets used, it seems to me that this might be feasible, but that's just my idea, and it can be silly. But as it is, it is a must-have if you do not need shunting. For DMUs or EMUs with classical tension-lock couplers for instance, (e. g. Bachmann's classes 101, 105, 108 and 117), this is a must-have in my opinion.
Afternoon Richard congratulations on you're new full time job with Hornby Magazine I look forward to seeing what else is in the pipeline for the expanding Hornby Magazine content on RU-vid. Have you guys got any install/ update videos on staff projects like the j72 in the works? Would be great to see the writing in the magazine come to life in a video as you've just demonstrated with this coupling system. Looks like a great coupling system. How well does it cope on gradients? All the best Gary
Hi Gary, thanks for the message! The couplings have been tested by Hunts Couplings with a rake of I believe 14 coaches up a helix. In regards to the other videos, watch this space. ;)
Excellent Video Richard. Would these also work in the Hornby Mk2 coaches? I have a rake from the Blue Pullman train set and the additional coach pack they released a few years ago. All the best, Dave
I might not have been the first modeller to come up with this concept some years back using a cut in half Bachmann dummy brake pipe coupling bar and magnets. Wish i had registered a patent now.....
seems like a good idea in terms of having good-looking rolling stock for trains you don't switch/shunt much, but do these couplings make the rolling stock directional, like Brio trains seem to be?
I'd love to add this to my intercity 225, unfortunately my mk4 carriages are from the early 90s and have a large D couple. The best way I can see to upgrade would be to upgrade the bogie, these bodies come on the latest versions of the MK4 2018 onward unfortunately you can't buy the bogies as spare parts yet
Shame you cant have the curtain things that joint the coaches join up with some sort of material and one end fixed to a coach and the other magnetic so you can still separate them.
Impressive. My HSTs will love some of those. Did you manage to try a tight corner, something like 3rd radius? Looked fine running through the curve in the station. Cheers
Hi Richard, they go around second radius fine, don't be tempted by the Ultra close ones when they arrive as they're designed for end to end layouts. Cheers Richard
Strength test I would like to see is a long heavy train on a gradient. Or just apply some scales to measure the breakaway force. Also need care that each coach goes the right way around due to magnet polarity. May be okay if you limit yourself to fixed formations but I not not want more limits. I would still prefer the much more proven and widely available Kadee coupling system than another non standard coupling system. Need actual NEM pockets (ie NEM standard height) to help with the coupling chaos of model British trains.
Interesting things - well worth getting a set to test out. Odd that you only got one set of Power Car couplings for a HST, when clearly you will need two.
Hi our main intention on designing and manufacturing these was to offer reliability in push operations and with inclines & helix's, they act as a straight bar with good strength but with ease of uncoupling
Earlier answer from the Hornby Magazine here said no as I suspected. Remote uncoupling for realistic operation is something I value but this coupling does not provide.
I suspect given their size and strength that these use Neodymium magnets ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet ). These last a very long time before losing their magnetism (>100 years).
You don't show us how to fit the couplings to coaches, which have the moulded D coupling. This would be a useful article in Hornby Magazine on how to remove and fit other couplings to older coaches, which do not have NEM or the plug in type of coupling. In the case of wagons, do they do cranked couplings to cater for the different hight of couplings, which can often occur?
Great for fixed rakes BUT 2 disadvantages. 1. The wagon/coach rake can only be one way round. 2. You can’t shunt wagons or coaches as there is no method of decoupling other than the “ hand of God” !!
Thank you. Just as an FYI - Hornby Magazine is produced by Key Publishing and not Hornby Model Railways, so non of the 'brands' seen in this videos are 'ours'
Hello, Notwithstanding all of the positive aspects of the magnetic coupling, haven't you overcooked the difficulty of separating units with the existing hook type links? Up until now, (and for how many years previously?), it has been a simple case of sliding a thin blade between the couplings and lifting the hooks. When did this change? Secondly, how will new stock be provided from the different manufacturers? How universal is the arrangement. Thirdly, magnets can differ in strength and lose strength. What is the life expectancy of these magnets as an effective coupling particularly with mixed older stock where the drag may be greater? That's about all for now. Regards, Glenn. :-)
Tension locks haven't changed but they are dedious if your exhibiting or have a late amount of stock or fixed formations. Obviously new stock still comes with tension locks. The Bachmann close couplings which look like pipes or wires but they are a direct NEM to NEM fitting which can be a pain to couple/decouple them if you have a rake of 6 coaches for e.g. It's also as universal as the range the manufacturer produces. As the video shows the HST can be converted and anything with a NEM socket
I need to show these to Sam's Trains. I have a great idea for a video for him. Hornby Tension lock couplers Kadee knuckle couplers These Hunt couplers Bachmann square hook couplers I wanna see what ones are great for HO/OO running. I run the Kadee on my American setup, since it's more accurate.
I always understood that Mk3 HST coaches had NO buffers? If this is still true, then if you are going to the trouble of changing the couplings to improve the looks, why not take off the incorrectly modelled buffers at the same time?
Not having to twist the carriage/rolling stock to take it off the layout is a huge deal to me. I'm sick of having messy uncoupling moments due to those old style hooks.
There's no need to twist them. Years ago Triang made a hand uncoupler that looked like a flat shovel, I've still got mine! This is the modern version, although it would be a simple job to make your own. www.ebay.co.uk/i/193294608633?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=193294608633&targetid=879157198036&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1007082&poi=&campaignid=9437867021&mkgroupid=95526236133&rlsatarget=pla-879157198036&abcId=1140486&merchantid=119024018&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn-bP14Tm5wIVg7TtCh113gZuEAQYAyABEgK2vPD_BwE
eeh. Doesn't seem worth it to me. Sure it's easier to uncouple, but in exchange your stock must be aligned correctly to connect. Plus. magnets can become weaker over time, which the tension locks do not. AND it's incompatible with some of the cheaper rolling stock options out there like the basic hornby wagon and 4-wheel coach, as well as the traditional Hornby 0-4-0 chassis.
Not that impressed, tried some broke away, the magnets will loose strength over time, nothing new its been done before, looked at making something similar as its quite easy to replicate., sticking to Kadees.
