The title pretty well says / asks it all. Both track cleaning cars are in the same price range. I have the Centerline Products car and have wondered if I should buy another one or get an Atlas track cleaning car instead. I model Nscale and am not sure that scale is relevant to the issue. I like the simplicity of the Centerline car. On the other hand, what can beat a Brightboy track cleaner / eraser? Any thoughts on these products?
Using metal polish beats them all. I know as I got rid of all my track cleaning cars once I tried the metal polish (Mothers Mag Wheel Polish - Wal-Mart).
I haven’t had to clean my track in 2 years. And I am doing plaster scenery and ballasting track. Just wipe the track, with a cloth, in the area I am working and keep on running.
Save your money for that new engine or a couple of cars!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Doesn’t the polish get on the ties, ballast etc.? The metal polish I have used in the past would be disasterous.
Not neccessarily.
I’m HO and use a brite boy in the application of MAAS.
I wrap a piece of t-shirt material(100% cotton) around the BB then apply the MAAS etc
on the long edge of the BB. and drag across the rail heads.
The BB fits well between the forefinger & thumb and doesn’t overlap and mess
up your scenery or get on your ballast.
Let your favorite paste cleaner slightly dry and follow up with an untreated piece of
material around the BB. I use two , one to apply & one to wipe off.
A small block of wood would be a good substitute as long as it fits comfortably
in your hand.
Walthers cleaning cars aren’t bad. I use them, and I know a couple other people that do also. They don’t cost too much, and clean pretty well.
Nothing beats the good old running-over-track-with-metal poli***echnique.
matthew
I sold off my Centerline & CMX cleaning cars because the paste was so effective.
I have about 1700’ of track in a dust-porous bldg so track cleaning is an unavoidable chore. I use the Centerline rollers modified by cutting a grove lengthwise w/ a Dremel cut off wheel. I cut a strip of the Handi-Wipe of the right width,stuff one end in the groove and run a double thickness around the cylinder and stuff the other end into the groove. This allows me to run the track cleaner in either direction. I rigged a gondola so I can run it w/ 2 rollers at the same time. I also milled out an Athearn F-7 frame and cut down another roller to fit and now my track cleaning outfit cosists of a Powered A unit dummy B and the gon and the three rollers do the job just fine and I get to run something rather than reach and scrub. The milling and turning part of the conversion is probably more involved than most would be interested in, but the roller mods should be doable by just about anybody.
When using metal polish, make sure you get ALL of it cleaned up off the rails. Otherwise your cars and locomotives are going to “crud up” rather quickly.
When I use metal poli***o clean my track I use a short piece of HO cork and put the polish directly to the cork.
I then run this along the rails. I can also move the cork from side to side and this applies more of the polish for a longer period. I like to use the older HO cork as it is a little bit stiff and holds its shape better.
I run the cork by hand and can feel when the cork gets dry and needs more polish as it pushes harder. I also can feel little variations in the track and can then inspect these areas and smooth them out if necessary.
I then use a clean piece of cork to rub the rails to poli***hem and to remove the wax film just as you would when you polish your car finish.
And as for the wheels crudding up with the wax, I haven’t had any problem with that but the polishing step with the cork takes care of any wax left on the rails.
BOB H – Clarion, PA
Bob,have you ever thought of putting the polish on the roadbed setup in a track cleaning car,the type that uses a masonite pad on the bottom? I have a few cabeese and boxcars set up with the masonite pads,they work pretty good at polishing the track,I run them right in my trains.Bye the way,NEVER use an eraser or anything abrasive on your track!!! The microscopic scratches fill up with dirt,and you end up having to clean even MORE,and,sooner or later,it wears out your track.I bought one of the Centerlines,made a mold,and cast a bunch of them.I run 7 or 8 of them with cleaner on the first 2 or 3,and the last ones dry.I use Life-Like track cleaning fluid,it works great.I like to run them on the head end of a train for a half hour or so,that way,you get your wheels cleaned,too.
I really do not think that it will work because the metal polish seems to cake up on the cork rather quickly as it is removing the dirt and oxidation. So the metal polish effectively dries out very quickly. The metal polish has to be added repeatedly.
And besides you only have to do this once, not time and time again like you have to do with regular track cleaning products.
This is where we just can’t seem to make everyone realize, you do NOT have to do this over and over. ONCE is enough!
And besides the track cleaning car can NOT get into each and every siding. You STILL have to do it by HAND! BUT you only do it ONCE!
REMEMBER just once in 2 years. And I still don’t know how long it will last but I will put a not on the trains forum when I have to do it again on my 2700 ft of track. Doing a track cleaning is not something I look forward to!!!
BOB H Clarion, PA
I can believe it will keep the track from oxidizing,but what about dust?? I think that’s the problem most of us have.My track was always shiny,but on my last layout,I always had to wipe the dust off the sidings before I could run on them.I shouldn’t have that problem in my new house,my old one had hot air heat,the new one is hot water.Even with an air cleaner running 24/7,after 3 or 4 days,I hadda wipe the dust off the track,if only a little.I think the new generation of track cleaners with the built in vacuums[isn’t that what this topic was about?? LOL!] are just the ticket for that. Those Atlas cleaners look pretty good.Even if they don’t really clean the rails all that well,the vacuum cleaner feature makes a lot of sense to me.[If it actually works!!!] anybody try one?
N-maniac
It still sounds like you need a reason to run your layout (track cleaning cars, vacuums, etc.)
Maybe I just don’t understand the reasoning behind this cleaning car thing. I always felt it was a chore to clean the rails.
With the many posters on this forum and other forums I am on, it seems that they (and just who is this they?) love to run the track cleaning cars and they look forward to doing this PITA project.
This is why, it seems, that they are willing to stand in line to purchase the latest cleaning car and/or vacuum or what ever to run around the layout. And they do this cleaning thing over and over again.
Well personally I Despise, Dislike, Abhor, Detest, Loathe cleaning track. Sorry to get so violent!
So when the metal poli***hing worked out so well, I assumed (which I am beginning to believe I was in error) that everyone else also did not like to do this chore!
Now I do not have to waste my time cleaning the track to get ready for my bi-weekly Ops sessions. I can finally enjoy my Ops nights instead of having to continually push an engine through a switch or have the sound drop out. And I felt that I should pass this new way of doing (or lack of doing) track cleaning on to those that also hated it.
BTW the polish seems to keep the dust off my rails but then again I do not have forced air heat in my basement where the layout is. So this may be a problem for others. But I still get some dust but never pay any attention to it as the layout just keeps on operating so smooth. Maybe some day (and I will report it when I have to clean the track again), I may have to break down and do my favorite job (cleaning track)!!!
BOB H – Clarion, PA
Hmmm…Well,I can tell ya,I hate track cleaners as much as anybody.My last house was REALLY dusty.We lived on a dirt road,near an open dirt parking lot for a trucking company.No matter HOW much you vacuumed,the house was dusty,and the hot air heat blew it around.My new house hardly has any dust at all.I suspect you don’t have much of a dust problem,and are probably not running N-scale.My last layout got run CONSTANTLY,and the track was as shiny as chrome.BUT…If it sat for a week or so,it got dusty enough that nothing ran.I used to have to vacuum the layout once a month,and I used to cover the yard and servicing facilities if I wasn’t gonna run it for a few days.I suspect that my new railroad isn’t going to have going to have that problem,because there IS no dust,and maybe you’re in the same boat,and just don’t realize it.Just because you’re not having a problem,doesn’t mean others aren’t . I don’t care HOW shiny or polished something is,dust is a lousy conductor,and needs to be removed.I’m probably gonna try what you suggest,and it will probably work for me in my new house,but in my old one,it probably woulda been a waste of time.
You know,I just re-read your post about using the polish cause I was gonna try it,you say you’re plastering and ballasting,and when you’re done,you"just wipe off the track with a cloth,and start running".[?] isn’t that cleaning your track,and having a problem with dust?
N-maniac
Yes, you might be able to say that is a dust problem, if you want to call it that. BUT it is located at the area where I am doing scenery, not all over the layout.
Before I tried the Metal Polish I was cleaning my engine wheels 3 times or more during a session no matter if I had just ran the track cleaning cars on the main line. My engines on my staged trains would not move from one session to another (every 2 weeks). That really made it fun trying to get 16 trains out of hidden staging just to clean the wheels and then put them back.
With a 1000 feet of mainline track and the rest being passing sidings, staging tracks and spurs (in a 25ft x 75ft basement)(2500ft total) I spent a lot of time getting the layout ready for Operations every 2 weeks.
So this turned into a very LARGE problem for me. My previous layout was a (9 x 11) in a basement (and we lived on a dirt road and my machine shop was right next to my layout – So I had a dust problem – although I don’t think mine was as bad as yours)!
So cleaning track was a problem then and I was worried it would be a problem with the larger layout. It was! Until I tried the metal polish.
I don’t know what is in it or what it does to the rails but it worked for me.
It stopped me and the rest of my operators from cleaning engine wheels 3 or more times a night to cleaning the engine wheels once in 3 to 4 months, if then.
And as for cleaning the areas where I am doing plaster work, just hand wiping the rail heads with my 2 fingers usually is enough. Nothing else.
Am I happy about the NO TRACK CLEANING thing YES!! To say the least. And this is why I am trying to tell everyone else about it. But most don’t believe it. Some, on the forums, have stated they have tried it and all the members of my operations group have changed over. They have seen the complete change from cleaning engine wheels constantly to nothing from one session to the next