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Two magnets are wired in series to create a "horseshoe" electromagnet
with about 11 ohms of resistance. This will draw about 1.1 amps at
12VDC. The plate the magnets are bolted to is steel, a magnetic
material. Don't use stainless steel or aluminum - they're not
magnetic! Radio Shack provided the insulated binding posts for the
electrical connection.
This unit is mounted under the rails (challenging when the track is
already installed and ballasted!) and energized from a switch on the
control panel. Even with the ties cut away and the magnets touching
the underside of the rails, performance is not as good as the rare
earth magnets. They also can get pretty warm if left turned on, and
the power draw was more than I liked. So I pretty much discarded the
electromagnet idea.
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