These are inexpensive and readily available in a host of sizes. The ones I tried are 60mm x10mm x 3mm. They are very strong and stick to the center rail without any adhesive. No need for an intensifier plate and no need to cut or remove ties. I use Gargraves track and am not sure how they would work with nickel/silver track. They are very shiny but can be easily painted, as seen. I would put on a good primer first next time.
The magnets sit just below the level of the center rail and reliably open Kadee couplers when the train is stopped but hold fast when moving. However, I have just experimented today for the first time, pushing several cars back and forth by hand. I am not sure what glitches might be in the future, especially once I power the track and engines with pickup rollers pass over these. Has anyone tried them? Any cautions or advice?
(Temporarily, I have no power to my layout or I would have tried running some locomotives over them.) There is at least one older thread on this topic but the video links are broken and it looks like several round magnets were lined up in a row instead of one bar magnet. Hope I am not beating this to death by bringing it up again.
