I currently have a 6x8 HO ‘doubletrack main’ layout on two levels. Approx 30% of each level is ‘hidden’, although I have made sure all track is accessible for derailment rectification, this access has limited potential in the track cleaning department. My trains have started to jerk as they complete the circuit and I can see the headlights flicker in the areas where there is obviously poor conduction.
My question is … I have seen “track cleaning cars” at my LHS for around $18, using my miserly ingenuity I have ‘bowed’ some wet/dry minimum abrasive paper to the underside of a car to ‘wipe clean’ my railtops, although this works to a degree it is a pain in the butt and as my curves are minimal radius, when negotiating these usually the inside rail is the only one cleaned(having looked at the commercial cleaning cars I know this will not be rectified due to overhang).
So, do these cleaning cars work, are they worth the $$$'s I am looking longer term also to when I have this learner layout complete and I start my 22x18ish ‘real’ layout.
Any help, experience and comment would be gratefully recieved.
Get some masonite and put it “fuzzy” side down. Glue 2 nails to the top and drill 2 corresponding holes in the bottom of a boxcar. Put the nails in the holes and if you start with clean track and run a few of these cars around it will keep your track clean. These cars can be made for next to nothing and as long as you clean the pads with alchohol every so often they work great.
The only track cleaning car I have ever found that really does a good job is the CMX Clean Machine from Tony’s Train Exchange. We use it on an HO scale club layout that has over 800 feet of main line trackage, and it does a very good job when filled with Lacquer Thinner.
Over the years we have tried at least 10 different track cleaning cars, both liquid and dry, and none of them do as good a job as the CMX.
The only thing better is to hand scrub all of your rail with a metal polish such as Magic Wadding Polish, so the Clean Machine is a lot faster and easier to use.
When I was in the Army many years ago, we used to shine our brass with a solvent-soaken cloth sold under the brand name of Blitz, but I can’t find any of those being sold anywhere. Do they still make Blitz cloths, or has the EPA done away with them?
Our club does what JPM335 does, but we have three cars in one train that does nothing but go round and round. Every once in a while it gets switched from Main 1 to Main 2 and we run it most every meeting night.
I probably have about 10 of them. Its not a dedicated train, they just get switched around like any other car. As long as you keep the trains serving the industries that the cleaning cars happen to be at, the track stays clean. The problem is that if you dont run anything for awhile you have to clean the tracks. These cars are good at keeping clean things clean, but not so good at cleaning dirty things. Ahhh… but not to worry. I have found a solution to that too. I did the same thing as with the masonite, except I hung a bright boy on the bottom of a car. I put a couple of weights on top of the nails for some pressure, and it will get the track sparkling clean. You cant run it all the time though. It will grind up the track over time. Only use it when the track is very dirty. Those expensive track cleaning cars work great, I just dont have the money for one.
I guess I’m old fashion, but I still use rubbing alcohol and a large rubber eraser. Also steel wool once in a while if all else fails. So far I’ve always had good luck with it-but it is time consuming…
Brasso might be a substitute but the MAAS paste I think is better since it’s three way, removal, polisher & delays degradation. It’s used by Boeing , McDonald Douglas, and most military branches.
Comes in clothes, paste & liquid.
I like the Centerline Products track cleaning car. That is the one I would recomend. I have noticed that in our area, such as at train shows, some of the top model railroaders use them.
Ooh! I can’t see the steel wool as being a good idea! The fuzz it leaves behind is metal, which can be picked up by the magnets in model engines. Not the greatest for motors and driveboxes!
Does anyone know the height of Tony’s clean machine and of the Electrak Clean II Cleaning Car. I need to know if they will fit in my tunnels before I make such a purchase. I emailed Tony some weeks ago but got no reply. If any of you have one I would appreciate if you would have a quick measurement and let me know.
Thanks
I use a Peco track cleaning block - think Walthers sell a similar thing as a “Bright Boy”. I’ve looked at cleaning cars but I don’t think they’d be all that effective on a yard layout (also good ones are expensive), the Peco block is a lot cheaper and lasts for years. On a small layout it’s not too labour-intensive either.
I really wouldn’t advise using steel wool. Apart from the problems with swarf getting sucked into mechanisms it surely doesn’t do the ties any good? Would have thought it would rip them to pieces!
As far as the height of the CMX track cleaner. It will go anywhere a box car will go. It is not all that tall. It does work too. I really like the thing. It is heavy and will not just fit in a train. You will need to dedicate an engine to it. As far as the Electrak II the web sit says that it is a regular F-7 B unit. It has a small push button and lite on the top though. But it does not appear to be much taller than a regular engine,
Best advice I ever heard for cleaning track was “Run lots and lots of trains” due to the constant scrubbing of the wheels against the track, the theory was that it would keep the tracks cleaner in the long haul.
[:0]STEEL WOOL?[:0] Never use steel wool anywhere near your layout. When I first started my layout, I thought that I would out smart everyone and used a steel wool sanding pad. Fellows, I was picking tiny strands out of my motors for months. The motor magnets just loved to pick these critters up. This was after going over the track dozens of times with a large speaker magnet.
I now use Tony’s CMX cleaning car. About once a week, I will hook it up to a Geep and just let it do a track “inspection”, going over the track several times and having the other trains routed around it. I normally fill it with 90% alcohol for routine maintenance, but on troublesome areas I will use laquer thinner and then follow up with alcohol. Of course, Bright Boy still has a use with cleaning turnout rails and other difficult spots. The size is the same as any tank car, but very heavy.
Some additional comments about track cleaning cars…
We have a Centerline track cleaning car and used it for over one year, using every type of liquid cleaner we could think of – rubbing alcohol, Goo-Gone, Formula 409, Windex, LifeLike Track Cleaning Fluid, etc. etc., and it always left the track dirty, sticky, or greasy.
Our current strategy is to use the CMX Clean Machine filled with Lacquer Thinner followed by the Centerline running dry to mop up any residue.
You’d be amazed to see how fast the Centerline car’s rag gets black streaks on it as it wipes up the dirt loosed by the CMX.
Tony’s claims about the CMX and the “White Glove Test” are not exaggerations. With the Centerline and other track cleaning cars, you could always run your finger along the rail and it would come up with a black streak. With the CMX, no more black streaks on your fingers at all – the rail is clean.
We’ve also used Magic Wadding Polish, MAAS, and several other metal polishes, but these are extremely labor intensive solutions because most of them require that the polish be applied, allowed to dry, and then its film has to be wiped off with a clean cloth. Magic Wadding Polish is the only one that does not require wiping off a film after application, but it is still very labor intensive, especially on a large club layout.
The CMX requires a lot of motive power to pull it around, too. I have had to double-head Kato AC4400CWs to pull it and the Centerline car up our 2-percent grades.
As cacole states, this is one of the best we have found for track cleaning at the club.
It is followed up with the roller wiping pad. Make sure that no train/ rolling stock directly follows the track cleaner until the laquer thinner has totally evaperated. The gunk on wheels could be dissolved an be spread even worse.
Bob K.
I’m hip to what you guys are saying, but I only use steel wool in places that give me the most problems, then clean up in ways I’m sure you would approve of with a very powerful magnet, an alcohol dampened sponge, Q-tips and a minivac to make sure I’ve gotten every steel fiber up. Please understand that I’m a very particular model railroader, and would never do anything th