At a show last summer, I purchased a MOW train. In with this train was a
track cleaning car. It is HO and made by Lionel. It has an old open frame
motor that turns two gear driven shafts. On the ends of these shafts are
round sponge like pads. These spin as the car is being pulled around the
layout. It has metal trucks that have operating coil springs and pickups
on the wheelsets.
It works, although erratically and is noisy.
I was wondering if any of you have ever seen one of these cars, or know
how old is it. Here’s some pictures. Thanks, Dave
Hi,
That is a1960’s era track cleaning car made in “O” and “H-O” gauges by Lionel . It used spinning wet sponges on each track. The liquid was in small gray tubes which lay in the car itself and are not shown in your photos. I think you could classify it as a curiosity and/or collector’s item and it is not and never was too effective in keeping the (brass) track of that era clean. As is the case with old Lionel H-O cars they are ridiculously expensive when sold at train shows.
Regards,
AW
That’s pretty cool - Fleischmann offer something similar in HO and N scale at the moment so the idea must have merit. You could try soaking the sponges in medical alcohol (or whatever your preferred liquid cleaner is) then giving it a try - oiling the bearings on the motor and cleaning the commutator shaft would probably help. If the track pickup isn’t that reliable you could remove it (looks as though the brass shoes on the axles should unclip) and use a rechargable 9v battery instead (simple circuit with switch, hide under styrene extension to the red bodywork). This would result in the sponges spinning rapidly regardless of the track voltage. Could also rig something up to deliver fluid to the sponges. Just a few ideas!
