remote decoupling - the proper way


Yes, now only for large scale and O. But I can´t see why it couldn´t be made in HO..... Piezo motors are getting cheaper by the day....
 
Anton;

Saw an ad for a company that makes remote uncoupling cars for HO. They're DCC equipped and you have the option of either uncoupling from one end or being able to do both ends.
I can't remember the price, but its waaaaayyyy out of my league. Its pricey enough that I see it as a novelty for many years to come.
 
i'm still hoping this is HO, it has to be since no one makes trains in any other scale :p

Carey, yes it was expensive. and thats why i'm excited - while i would want couple of these devices i am not ready to pay crazy novelty price.with more manufacturers moving into this the prices can only drop :) and somehow i trust kadee make a workable and not some "tweak it yourself to no end" device.
 
While the concept of remote control uncoupling is awesome to think about, I can't imagine it happening due to cost. Imagine having 100 cars on your layout and needing to equip each one with a decoder and associated couplers.
 
deanej said:
While the concept of remote control uncoupling is awesome to think about, I can't imagine it happening due to cost. Imagine having 100 cars on your layout and needing to equip each one with a decoder and associated couplers.
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$$$$$$$$! The mind boggledeth! I find that a bamboo skewer or a small flat tip screwdriver works fine.
 
Cjcrescent said:
Imagine it on mine. I have over 250!
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Imagine having to remember the number of each of those cars when you want to program an uncouple command into the keyboard.

Seems like there are certainly some unanswered questions as to how all of this would work out.
 
With over 45 locomotives and I don't know how many cars I've acquired over the last 57 years, I can't imaging what the cost would be. My Kaydee uncoupling ramps and an "0-5-0" switcher will just have to do! :)
 
Well, it isn´t really intended for use on road switchers.... More for a yard switcher where you often uncouple the loco from the cars.
On my harbor layout it would work perfectly!
 
Graff said:
Well, it isn´t really intended for use on road switchers.... More for a yard switcher where you often uncouple the loco from the cars.
On my harbor layout it would work perfectly!
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That's a good point. I guess you would only need the release on the engine, not on the cars, though that's the way they show it on the video.

You would then only be able to uncouple from the engine, not in the middle of a string of cars. Still, it's a neat concept.
 
deanej said:
That's a good point. I guess you would only need the release on the engine, not on the cars, though that's the way they show it on the video.
Actually it's not a good point. If you're doing yard switching, 90% of your couplings and uncoupling will NOT be at the engine.

Even for a road train doing lifts or setouts at least half of the coupling/uncoupling will be in the middle of the train, not at the engine. And that's if the block being set off is actually at the front right at the engines.

IMO, the MTH and similar DCC couplers on locos are a marginally useful if not useless gimmick. They're clunky looking, don't couple proper to other makes of couplers, and most of your operation will be elsewhere in the train. One of the guys in my club got an MTH SD70ACe and had it at the club for a test run. The enigne would not properly couple to any of our Kadee equipped cars, and the very first thing he did was remove the MTH couplers and put in Kadees.
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Another good use for remote couplers is on passenger trains. How often do you uncouple the cars in the train? Mostly it´s the engine that is uncoupled from the train.
 
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