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Reply to "P)roto Couplers PS1 vs PS2"

So a web search on "solenoid design" or the like and you will be overwhelmed with A-to-Z level of detail.  I was amused to find several "solenoid design calculators" which reminds me of those "LED calculators" that help you choose a resistor value to use with your LED(s) for a lighting project.

A solenoid is "just" an electro-magnet governed by fundamental physics/equations.  And, tongue-in-check, yes there actually was a dude named "Ampere" a few centuries ago.  So while everyone at some point in their life wound some wire around a nail to make an electro-magnet, the practical question is how to ballpark where to start given a specific application...such as the coil decoupling electro-magnet in a UCS activation track, or the snap-action throw of a turnout.

Without knowing your exact application, my question would be to ask if you're committed to a solenoid as the electro-mechanism.  In the context of O-gauge trains, notice how the traditional electro-magnet has been supplanted by DC gearmotors (such as the slow Tortoise switch machine  or the slightly faster FasTrack mechanism).  Not as fast as the snap solenoid action but achieves the functional objective.  I don't know if MTH did it in O-gauge but I think their HO couplers use so-called "muscle wire" where heating a wire causes it to expand/contract (rather quickly) to generate a linear force.  In many cases, inexpensive solid-state electronics and its ability to precisely meter (deliver) bursts of voltage and/or current can be used to great effect.

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