12-28-2010, 08:04 AM
Hi Joe,
I doubt that there's much magnetic material, but you may have picked up some debris in the mix using the leaf collector. The risks are that little particles get into your loco's moving parts and/or motors and grind away, bringing everything to a halt.
However, some people choose to follow the guidelines that 1) if it's more than a few inches from the tracks, it is unlikely to be attracted by the magnets in the motors, and 2) if it is well glued down, it won't move anyway.
So it depends on your risk tolerance.
As for the magnet, I can't picture what you mean about not touching the sides... It does sound complicated. If the ground, dried leaves are in a largish container, you can always throw in a rare earth magnet (or any other for that matter - old speakers are a good source) and roll it around for a while. Any magnetic debris should stick and be easy to lift out.
Andrew
I doubt that there's much magnetic material, but you may have picked up some debris in the mix using the leaf collector. The risks are that little particles get into your loco's moving parts and/or motors and grind away, bringing everything to a halt.
However, some people choose to follow the guidelines that 1) if it's more than a few inches from the tracks, it is unlikely to be attracted by the magnets in the motors, and 2) if it is well glued down, it won't move anyway.
So it depends on your risk tolerance.
As for the magnet, I can't picture what you mean about not touching the sides... It does sound complicated. If the ground, dried leaves are in a largish container, you can always throw in a rare earth magnet (or any other for that matter - old speakers are a good source) and roll it around for a while. Any magnetic debris should stick and be easy to lift out.
Andrew