With the Australian dollar around the mid 70 mark it is actually cheaper to buy Magna rail products in a stria than from Europe so remember to check it out rather than buying through other sites your finding is cheaper and the postage is cheaper in Australia as well
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The new group leisure kit and the group work kids have finally arrived in Australia after being launched in Germany at the huge Dortmund toy fair in May. The leisure kit includes three units a tandem cycle with male and female rider the sports or hybrid bike with a Childs trailer on the back and the final one is an ice cream vendor and that kit comes with the appropriate stickers for you.
All kits need assembling and painting. The ice cream vendor comes with colourful stickers to make your ice cream trolley stand out. One of my customers recently bought a new ready-to-run bike for his Magnorail layout only to find that that it would not stay on the track! It turns out that Magnorail in Holland have switched their production from steel frames to brass or bronze which means they are no longer attracted to the magnets in the chain. The solution for them was to place micro magnets on the wheels which are then attracted to the chain magnets. The problem has arisen that the chain magnets now need to be placed with the two magnets exposing the North polarity at the top as the wheel magnets are pre-set to South polarity to be attracted to the chain. If you have an existing chain with the old bikes, it made no difference as to how you placed the magnets as the steel wheels were attracted either way. So, if you have new bikes which are repelling from the chain magnets you have 2 options. 1. flip the magnets in the chain to match the wheel magnets 2. if your system is sealed and you cannot access the chain then using acetone (nail polish) soak the wheels and the super glue (cyanoacrylate) holding them will release. Once released, place the bike on the chain above the chain magnets, put a drop of super glue on each wheel flat and using plastic tweezers drop the magnet on the glue and it should automatically grip at the right polarity - remove it from the track to avoid any of it sticking and let the glue dry. If you are having difficulty with your older bikes jumping of the track when the hit a join or or bump on your track, you should consider purchasing a magnet set from our shop. Each set has 4 of each magnet, with the micro magnets in the set, enabling you to upgrade two of your older bikes to better gripping ones. The clear wheel is now being pulled firmer onto the track surface which should stop any free-wheeling by the cyclists and helping them pedal at all times! It's what is known as Murphy's Law in Australia. If something can go wrong, it will go wrong!
I got talking to a couple of prospective buyers pointing out the magic of the Magnorail System when whammy - Major pile up! Hi Anthony Some answers for you 1) what is the size of the slider for a Z scale vehicle? See attached photo - 4.7mm long x 3mm wide 2) can this system run up and down hills or does it need to be on a flat surface or at least a linear plane (consistent angle, etc)? Yes it can be fairly flexible - like a snake but no sharp turns or kinks - given the strength of the magnets and weight of the vehicles they could possibly take a 45 degree angle from linear plane but it would be trial and error. Your base cover would have to be secured strongly so the track did not fall out if you started to angle the track into a banked curve but you might be able to get away with it in z Scale. Tell us how it goes! 3) I read that the tightest turns are roughly 3-4 inches due to the limitations of the track. Would it be possible to cut the track in places I would need a tighter turn and perhaps use a small dowel or wheel for the chain to curve around then enter the next section of track if the chain itself is capable of making tighter turns? You are restricted by the chain link size of 21mm so the smallest curve would be the 180 degrees used in the return loop pack or included in the starter sets. You cannot defy the physics of the system regrettably by modifying other parts otherwise it loses its integrity. The links are made to take magnets and anything smaller negates that ability This gives you 60mm (2.35”) between centres of the two tracks - see pictures attached - at the turn - obviously you have a larger 86.2mm size to accommodate under the road surface. You can bring the two tracks in closer after the 180 but the closest would be 20mm between the track centres which would be impractical for any scale except Z as vehicles would hit when passing. 4) do you sell any accessories other than slides exclusively for Z scale layouts? Not at this point in time but we are possibly the only one that offers an off the shelf system that gives some means of animating Z scale vehicles BUT you have to work within the limitations of the system. Hope this all helps Regards Clyde If you have any questions about Magnorail systems or ideas that you want run past someone, just drop a reply below.
Clyde Last weekend was the first time that the Magnorail system has been seen commercially at a model railway exhibition. The Corio Model Railway Club's 45th exhibition helped launch both Magnorail and MAGNORAIL-OZ to the Australian model railway hobbyists..
I was fairly flat out busy the whole two days of the weekend, operating Echo Lakes but also answering a huge amount of enquiries about the system. At one stage I had to phone one of our Grampian Model Railroader club members, who was only across the hall, as it was too noisy to call out to him, to ask him to come and relieve me so I could get a cuppa and have a toilet break. The kids were mesmerised by the little bikes peddling away but the hobbyists were more intrigued and wanted to know all about the system. I suppose the biggest selling points that came out of the two days were 1. Apart from the HO bicycles, the system is basically agnostic to what is aboveground as the motive power can pull HO down to Z scales and this got the N scale fraternity thinking. The only alternative of moving N scale vehicles is the Faller system, and that is a very dear proposition if you are wanting several vehicles operating. 2.The other selling point I gave, was that you can place vehicles that suit the era that your layout is portraying such as: Steam era 1920's - 1960's, steam to diesel transition era as well as current day operations. The opportunity for trucks, vans and motor cars of those various eras moving in either the background or foreground of your layout just lifts a it's believability and creates the MAGIC that makes a good layout a great and fantastic layout. Just putting the final touches to the video so catch it at klatchco56 YouTube channel The Grampian Model Railroaders Club will be holding it’s first exhibition in Ararat and will be displaying only club members layouts. Echo Lakes will be there plus MagnorailOz - see attached file for details.
I will be exhibiting Echo Lakes at the Corio Model Railway Club’s exhibition January 27 & 28 - for details go to http://www.coriomrc.org/exhibition.htm It will be the first time I will be displaying under the MagnorailOz banner and have stock for sale, so if you are in Geelong Australia Day weekend, drop in and see me!
Welcome to the first posting on the new Magnorailoz website.
Why the name? We have negotiated a reseller agreement with Magnorail Netherlands and they have okayed our incorporating their name in to our branding . BUT and we must stress, as per the disclaimer on our home page - Please note MagnorailOz is a reseller of Magnorail products and has no corporate ties with Magnorail Netherlands and as such has no legal liability for products purchased through the Magnorail.com web site nor acts on their behalf in any legal sense other than as an approved reseller. Any defective products purchased through magnorailoz.com.au come under Australian consumer laws and grievances will be actioned within those laws. So we are selling the system in Australia because we believe there are so many layouts here that can benefit from the Magnorail Magic! Hopefully this blog will get some chatter going to help newbies and oldies as they get to grips with the Magnorail technology and its opportunities so please feel free to comment or upload photos or links of your layout and I will include them in the curated Magnorail Playlist on my channel. |
AuthorClyde has been involved for many years with the Magnorail system having initially built his own layout "Echo Lakes" featuring two concepts using the Magnorail System. In 2019 he rebirthed his layout as Crater Lake featuring four Magnorail circuits plus an Ho3 train line around the perimeter which is now the Magnorail flagship for exhibitions. Archives
May 2022
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