Originally Posted by RichO:
Use the super powerful neodymium magnets.
Put the magnet in the gondola.
After a run around the layout, place the car over a trash car and pull the magnet out of the car.
All magnetic particles will fall in to the trash and you don't have to clean the magnet.
Rich,
I took your description and fashioned a magnet car that works extremely well. I mounted a pair of large neodymium magnets in a holder (complete with handle), which sits inside a depressed wooden gondola. The car picks-up a ton of stuff, and clean-up is simple. Remove magnet while holding over trashcan, and all the unwanted filings fall away.
The magnets used (same as the ones gunrunner described, but ordered from China for $8 apiece) are so strong that you can feel/see the gondola pulled down towards the track when they are installed. Talk about magnatraction!
We ran this at the Club a couple weeks ago and found all sorts of missing screws and track nails.
This one worked so well, I'm building a second one for the Club. V 2.0 will have a similar "magnet holder" set-up, but it will be mounted in a standard Railking gondola vs. the custom wooden one. Preliminary testing indicates it should work just as well, if not better. The magnets are so strong they don't need to sit super low, plus I think the extra height (and the undercarriage ribbing) will help keep screws that are picked-up in place.
Not completed yet, but I've made good progress:
-Dustin