Product Idea |

Simple Train Decoupler

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As a child I remember playing with my model trains and one thing I remember was wagons/carriages could be separated with just the train.

This got me thinking about decoupling with Lego and I discovered many highly engineered solutions where the decoupler is built into the train itself.  This is fine if you want to just detach the engine, but no good if you wanted to split from the third wagon in a group of five.

Looking at the magnets which make up the train bogies, they are weak enough to be easily pulled apart without too much force, so by combining a lever and pivot I came up with the Simple Decoupler.  This design allows the engine to split a wagon at any point giving more control over your train.

To decouple you first need to position the train over the Simple Decoupler so that the raising end will be between the two magnets.  Then with the slider at the side of the track, push it in to raise the lever and then move your train away - the two parts are now split.  Pushing the slider the other way lowers the pivot, so your train can reverse back onto the wagon(s).

The Simple Decoupler uses 30 common parts (track not included) and can easily be added to existing PF track layouts, whether on flat surfaces (floor, carpet etc) or onto baseplates that are in a more permanent setup.

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