My shelf layout is going great. I only have one more yard to lay down then Im done with track! But theres a problem…
I can easily clean all the yard trackage with a bright boy, but the mainlines have sections that are hard to reach or hidden. I’m thinking about shelling out the $$$ for a CMX clean machine track cleaner. Where can I get the best deal on one? Also if you have a better alternative please post it.
I thought a moment, and then came up with the following idea: a drapery closing stick, the white ones, usually metal, with a slender, but weighted plastic-covered “egg” for a handle, and a clip on the other end. If you notch, with a dremel blade, the ‘egg’ so that it would ride along the rail if you placed the notched egg on it, you could run the rod back and forth into tunnels with the egg ‘tracking’ the rails. Then, wrap a cloth and place some MAAS on it, and run the whole thing into the tunnels on each rail. I figure this might work, and might set you back $12, MAAS included.
Joe,
I’ve never used a track-cleaning car so I can’t help with that. A bright boy is slightly abrasive and could leave very fine scratches on the surface of the rails where dirt or crud might take hold and could possibly make the need for cleaning more frequent. Using a product like MAAS or Flitz (cleaner and anti oxidation metal polishes) to clean the track works really well. My new HO layout has no track work laid but I have a micro On30 layout set up and an HO Timesaver. I haven’t had to clean the On30 (PECO) rails for since I don’t remember. The HO Timesaver (Atlas track) was cleaned a few weeks ago for the first time since May. I also have a small oval of HOn3 track set up temporally on my bench work just so I can see the HOn3 trains run. I cleaned the rails last spring when I set it up and have not cleaned them since. I also have an air cleaner ionizer thing out in the train shed and that has just about eliminated dust forever in there. That could certainly be a factor. I clean my locomotive drivers and all wheel sets with MAAS before they are run and they stay clean for a long time too. I use only metal wheels, as they stay much cleaner than plastic wheels. If you get a cleaning car that had a weighted pad of some sort or made one and smeared just a little MAAS or similar product on the pad and ran it around every few months that may be all you ever need to do. I got a small tube of this stuff for a few bucks at Wally World about two years ago and I still have a lot of it left. A little goes a long long way. Bruce
I think the CMX weighs in at a full 11 OZ and does what it’s supposed to do. I owned both the CMX & Centerline.
I sold both off and traded up to MAAS.
I have seen the CMX advertised for $89.00 in past MR editions and also in Walthers’ Sept sales flyer, 1-800-487-2467, product #226-CMXHO.
Metal polish is the answer (Mothers mag Wheel Polish - Wal-Mart). Use it once and you won’t have to clean the track again.
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I have a CMX and yes it is good on the hard-to-get spots. I’ve followed the idea of other modellers and used rubbing alcohol instead of Goo Gone. Trick is to run the CMX on a rgular basis, not once every 6 months.
Bought mine at Tony’s Train Exchange over a year ago.
Fergie
The Chicago Museum of Science & Industry has one & uses 99% alcohol and the
KD wheel cleaner for their locos.
locomotive3
It would be interesting to hear how long the metal polish job would last on the Chicago Museum layout!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Thats a good idea. However it wont work for me. I have hidden track on corners where i need something to follow the rails exactly and thats why im thinking along the lines of a track cleaning car.
Many of you told me to use MAAS. Actually I do, I just need to get to walmart for another tube of it.
I just bought one of the CMX clean machines for HO and there is a problem. There is so much downward force on the cleaning shoe that even 2 locos could not budge it. I removed the springs that force the shoe down and they can now move it, but is there now enough force to clean? I don’t know.
What I did was leave access to all my track, through removeable hill tops underneith access or simply reaching in the tunnels as far as possible. There is no part I cant clean with out a “brightboy”. I look at it as thniking ahead. Just my oppinion. Joey