MarcD Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 (edited) As some people might have heard that the Trevor who produced the original Dingham couplings has been forced to stop production due to ill health. Also those members who have followed my "WC Boggs" layout thread will know I have been redesigning them so that they can cope with variation in height and curves down to 3ft4. Since it was announced that Trevor was stopping making them I have been asked, by a number of people, to make my version available to everyone. So I have decided to do exactly that. Im still proving my prototypes but it's looking good so far.if everything goes smoothly then I should be in a position to produce a production etch to start production by Christmas. The new update couplings are compatable with the old ones. I will also be developing a jig to allow the user to determin which of the 10 types of hook they need for any piece of rolling stock. There are 5 different hook heights and each height hook comes in 2 lengths. Also the new wider hooks come in 2 lengths. I'm not sure of the price as yet but I would say that they will be compatible with the original Dingham price. Marc Dobson Pre-Grouping Railways Edited November 10, 2021 by MarcD Got a name for new coupling system 8 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgundy Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 To be known as the Boggs coupling? Best wishes Eric Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Will you be marketing solenoids to uncouple them? Have you reached out to the Gauge O Guild? They are looking for someone to take on Trevor's original couplers. Will you be producing them for 4mm? Apparently there is a substantial demand. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 I have no plans to do the solenoids as I, personally, don't use them. But 4mm version is definitely a goer. Marc 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 4 hours ago, burgundy said: To be known as the Boggs coupling? Best wishes Eric Hi Eric, Do you know something I have not given any thought to what to call them. 48hours ago they were going to be for my personal use. I suppose that I will have to think of a name. Marc 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 1 hour ago, MarcD said: I have no plans to do the solenoids as I, personally, don't use them. But 4mm version is definitely a goer. Marc 1) I assume they will also be magnetically released, with an iron dropper. Otherwise they are as much use as a chocolate teapot. 2) I'd urge you to reconsider: solenoids are fundamental to the concept. I personally will need five or six for Banford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 30, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 30, 2021 I use neodymium magnets attached to shortened nails. The head of the nail fits between the sleepers and is flush with the ballast which means they can be fitted after track-laying. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Rowsley17D said: I use neodymium magnets attached to shortened nails. The head of the nail fits between the sleepers and is flush with the ballast which means they can be fitted after track-laying. Those are permanent magnets? That means that you will uncouple a whole string of wagons as you reverse over it. I think electro magnets are the ticket. Or the neodymium magnets held down and moved up for discrete uncoupling. Which strikes me as a lot of work compared to an electro magnet. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 I, personally, use small permanent magnets embedded between the sleepers, no wires. But I can see there is a requirement for a solenoid. Being a mechanical engineer I didn't go the the particular black mass, sorry electrical engineering lecture. So solenoids are a bit of a mystery to me. But they can't be that hard to work out how to make one. Electrical engineers do it. Marc 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 (edited) 33 minutes ago, MarcD said: I, personally, use small permanent magnets embedded between the sleepers, no wires. But I can see there is a requirement for a solenoid. Being a mechanical engineer I didn't go the the particular black mass, sorry electrical engineering lecture. So solenoids are a bit of a mystery to me. But they can't be that hard to work out how to make one. Electrical engineers do it. Marc Marc, I don't understand how permanent magnets get the job done. It seems to me that if you reverse a rake of wagons over it, they will all uncouple, whether you want them to or not. My layout is 22' x 17'. There is a bit of goods yard and several spurs for factories/warehouses. I intend having fairly complex shunting operations. And as I wrote previously, my baseboards are 1 1/4" thick. I'd really like not to have to remove the plywood to allow the solenoid to fit against the fiberboard. Just my preferences. Kevin Edited October 30, 2021 by bluestag spelling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 35 minutes ago, MarcD said: I But they (solenoids) can't be that hard to work out how to make one. Marc One buys in made up solenoids. Trevor's accepted a 5mm bolt, and drew 1.5 amp. And only worked on DC. He describes them on his web page. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Hi Kevin, In that case it can't that hard to source some. Marc 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WM183 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Oh happy day! I am excited to hear this. I'll definitely be in the market for some! Amanda Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywhizz Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Hi Marc. Very interested in your couplings. I did have an outstanding order with Trevor. We were discussing the pros and cons of Dinghams yesterday as a couple of people in our group use them and I planned to use them on my current project (4mm) From the discussion, the main drawback seems to be size of the loop which it looks like you have already addressed. Please do keep us updated with progress. if you need anyone to test out prototypes, I will be happy to help! Cheers, Bill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted October 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2021 23 hours ago, bluestag said: 1) I assume they will also be magnetically released, with an iron dropper. Otherwise they are as much use as a chocolate teapot. 2) I'd urge you to reconsider: solenoids are fundamental to the concept. I personally will need five or six for Banford. I use this type of electro magnets from Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0741S6B7T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You can buy them at various prices and I'm sure you'd get discount if you did a bulk buy, but it would be probably easier if you pointed purchasers in that direction. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted October 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2021 On 30/10/2021 at 17:48, bluestag said: 1) I assume they will also be magnetically released, with an iron dropper. Otherwise they are as much use as a chocolate teapot. On the contrary, I use Dinghams both as an auto coupler/uncoupler using electromagnets, but also as virtually hands off manual shunting where you flip the loop with a shunters pole and still get the delay function whilst propelling. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davknigh Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Hi Marc, As a confirmed 4mm Dingham user I look forward to seeing your offerings. If I may make a suggestion; at the moment using the loop on an engine with deep buffer beams means cutting off the tail that allows automatic uncoupling. Is there any way around this or does it just have to be accepted as a limitation? I suspect geometry and physics are against me here. Cheers, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said: On the contrary, I use Dinghams both as an auto coupler/uncoupler using electromagnets, but also as virtually hands off manual shunting where you flip the loop with a shunters pole and still get the delay function whilst propelling. My point is that they are conceptually auto couplers. I would be disappointed with a product that is not magnetically tripped. That said, I intend to do about half my uncoupling with a pole. In 7mm the wagons are heavy enough that you are unlikely to pull them off the rails using a pole. I cannot comment on the situation with 4mm. They are indeed an excellent concept. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 I use small permanent magnets fitted between the sleepers rather than electo magnets. Mainly because my layouts are small and the number of wagons being moved at any one time is 5 or 6. I have been experimenting with very small permanent magnets for use with my 7mm narrow gauge stock because of the very reason of the stock being pulled down at the same time as the coupling. I got some from Greenwich MRC to go with their couplings. They are about 4mm across and 2mm thick and seam to be okay. I'm building some HO stock for a client so I might use a spare wagon as a test bed for 4mm couplings. Marc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizard of the Moor Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 3 hours ago, davknigh said: Hi Marc, As a confirmed 4mm Dingham user I look forward to seeing your offerings. If I may make a suggestion; at the moment using the loop on an engine with deep buffer beams means cutting off the tail that allows automatic uncoupling. Is there any way around this or does it just have to be accepted as a limitation? I suspect geometry and physics are against me here. Cheers, David https://albionyard.com/2018/12/29/notes-from-the-man-cave-getting-to-grips-with-dinghams/ scroll down to see the solution with a Dingham fitted to a Class 03. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 On 30/10/2021 at 21:43, bluestag said: Marc, I don't understand how permanent magnets get the job done. It seems to me that if you reverse a rake of wagons over it, they will all uncouple, whether you want them to or not. I use both neodymium bar magnets between the sleepers and electromagnets on my BLT. The permanent magnets are at the dead ends and uncouple the loco ready to run around. For the sidings I have 4 strategically placed electromagnets. 2 from Dingham and 2 from Wizard/MSE. The Wizard ones have a shorter smooth pole piece and a plate for screw fixing to the underside of the baseboard rather than the bolt used on the Dingham ones. Both work equally well for me powered on d.c. with push to make non-latching switches. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestag Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Darwinian said: I use both neodymium bar magnets between the sleepers and electromagnets on my BLT. The permanent magnets are at the dead ends and uncouple the loco ready to run around. For the sidings I have 4 strategically placed electromagnets. 2 from Dingham and 2 from Wizard/MSE. The Wizard ones have a shorter smooth pole piece and a plate for screw fixing to the underside of the baseboard rather than the bolt used on the Dingham ones. Both work equally well for me powered on d.c. with push to make non-latching switches. The Wizard product is unavailable. It is designed specifically for half inch ply with a cork underlay. My layout is 3/4" ply with 1/2" fiberboard and no cork. I would have to gouge out a large hole in the ply and screw the uncoupler to the fiberboard. I really need an uncoupler with an 1 1/4" pole piece. Which I am unlikely to find. I suppose that the solenoid cannot excite a magnetic force over such a long rod. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 The whole core will become magnetised by the coil. My basic understanding of the physics isn’t good enough to be certain but I assume a longer core would produce a somewhat weaker magnetic field. This could be countered by increasing the current (within the coil / power supply capacity). A longer iron bolt in place of the shorter core supplied may well still work. My baseboards are 9mm ply with 5mm foam underlay. The wizard electromagnetic cores are 3mm or so below the sleeper tops, the hole filled with ballast and they still operate the Dinghams. They are only running on 9v too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted November 10, 2021 Author Share Posted November 10, 2021 Just a quick update of the progress with the new improved version of the couplings. We have decided to call my version the "Flippem Automatic Couplings". Following on from the feed back on the Dingham couplings from customers and my own usage. I have beefed up the material so they are less fragile Added high adjustment Change the shape of the loop to allow coupling on curves down to 3ft Added plastic packaging blocks to allow for different thicknesses of buffer beams. I'm also designing a height/depth jig to allow for correct height/depth adjustment. Im also looking into electo magnets for those who are interested. They will be avalabe 7mm and 4/3.5mm versions. The new artwork has been sent to the etchers and I am now waiting for their input for time scales. Marc Dobson Pre-Grouping Railways 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted November 10, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 10, 2021 Sounds excellent Marc. I hope it won't be too long before orders start coming in. Have you any idea of a rough ETA? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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