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What are powerbase plates used for?
Powerbase plates sound as though they're going to be very high-tech with lots of microchips, wires and a complex installation procedure, but actually, they're just some metal plates that you place beneath your tracks!
That doesn't make them any less genius though. The plates are used in conjunction with strong magnets placed under your locomotive's chassis to create tractive effort when climbing gradients or hauling heavy loads.
Powerbase plates are a useful aid for many types of gradient where trains need a little help to avoid wheel slip, but they are especially useful when a helix is involved as these often suffer from several adverse conditions at the same time, including a tight radius, steep gradient and long trains.
Powerbase plates are not the answer to every train's wheel slip problem as the system relies largely on the magnets being placed with a degree of precision. Some model locomotives have very busy chassis and simply do not have adequate space to install magnets, so if you're considering using powerbase plates on your layout, you should do a little research first.
Posted in: Tracks
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