What’s the ideas out there about track cleaning cars in HO?
I have an old Revell car from the late 1950’s that uses 2 small round abrasive drums (Brightboy type material). It works pretty well but the drums are impossible to find now. I have been making them from several layers of Brightboys and cutting them into drums. It’s a lot of work and a pain in the butt to do.
I have been thinking of trying something a little more modern than my Revell car. Anyone have any feedback on the new Atlas nuclear unit? Kinda expensive but if it works well it would be worth the cost to keep track clean.
I splurged and bought the CMX “Clean Machine” unit. It works very well. I run it around about twice a year. I use lacquer thinner (as recommended) as the cleaning agent. The car provides a slow, regulated release of the cleaning agent as you drag it along the track. I find it doesn’t leave any noticeable odor, but I try to do it on a nice day so I can keep the windows open anyway.
I have subways “underground” on my layout, and a good track cleaning car is the only way I can keep the tracks clean. With the CMX car, the Moose Bay Transit Authority can count on clean tracks all the time.
In between cleanings with bright boys and track cleaning solutions I use homemade masonite slider cars on every train I run which cuts down on the use of the other two methods. I made them in both HO and N and they work great.
I’ll second that. I also use lacquer thinner and it does a great job. I also have the Centerline car and it works decently, but the CMX car is a lot more effective. It needs a consist of a couple of strong pullers to push it up grades.
The CMX car sounds good. I’ve never heard of it or seen one before. Where can I get one? What do they cost?
Anyone have experience with the new Atlas one? I checked out their website and watched their video but it was kinda lame and not as informative as I think it could or should be. Any hands-on help?
They’re $125. (Like I said, I splurged on it.) If you watch the sales, Walthers puts them on sale every few months, and you can save $10-15. Other places have it for a few dollars less.
“Anyone have experience with the new Atlas one? I checked out their website and watched their video but it was kinda lame and not as informative as I think it could or should be. Any hands-on help?”
My LHS has one and I played around with it for awhile. In my HONEST opinion it isn’t worth buying. If you use DCC you need to install a decoder. Get yourself a CMX Clean Machine, I have two because I run one wet and one dry. It truly is the best track cleaner that money can buy and anyone that ACTUALLY owns one has never said a bad thing about them. I bought my first one new and couldn’t believe how long my track would stay clean. I clean my track once every 4-5 months and not because I have to but because it is a little preventative maintenance. My second one I bought used at a show for 50 bucks, I’m sure if you keep your eyes open you can pick up a used one at 1/2 the price.
I bought the Atlas and it works fine for me–really well, in fact. But I’m DC, and having a garage layout here in Pollen-Heavy California, I cannot use it as a ‘wet’ cleaner, only ‘dry.’ The vacuum cleaner attachment is excellent for getting dust, dirt (and Pollen) out of the tracks, and both the abrasive and polishing cloths work very well. The abrasive pads are much finer than a Brite Boy, so I don’t feel as if I"m ‘scouring’ the railtops.
I’ve used it twice on the layout since I bought it a couple of months ago, and have noticed a great deal of improvement in running, especially here in the Central Valleyh during the summer.
It works very well in my particular situation–DC and “Dry”.
If you don’t own a track cleaning car, I recommend you buy one. A good investment is the car from CMX Products. Use quick drying solvents such as acetone, laquer thinner, isopropyl alcohol, etc.
A couple of passes over your track and you will be amazed with the results.
The club has a CMX cleaner. We are in the middle of building a new layout, so it gets used weekly to clear grunge off the rails. Usually run it dry, ahead of the power for the first few laps. I went ahead and purchased more pad material, an upholstery corduroy. I have 3 pads that rotate, use one and wash the rest so each time I start with a clean pad. The car has plenty of heft to get the stuff off the rail. Also works good to simulate a heavy train behind cars being tested.
Poor shot, but it is the green and yellow car ahead of the Super Dome.
I would think about getting this to install on something. Lots cheaper if using dry only.
I also use a Centerline car, and Masonite sliders, from A-Line kits. MDC-Roundhouse 40-foot boxcars work good, as you just need to drill through plastic, not the weight as on a Athearn or Accurail car. I add extra stick-on weights to help keep the car on the track.
over the years, i have probably tried just about every track cleaning gadget there is and have found all of them to be a waste of time and money.
let me qualify this by saying that i only have about 12 inches total track that is not accessable from the top. (bridges)
the layout is HO scale, code 100 track and straight DC. about 1000 ft total track. i run a 50/50 mix of plastic and metal wheels.
i am in a large basement that is temperature and humidity controlled and relatively free of dust.
about twice a year, i go over the track with a cheap chinese make suede palm and fingered work glove and then clean the glove with a fine wire brush.
only exceptions are when i am doing something on the layout that creates dust such as sawing wood or sanding. then i vacuum the surrounding area thoroughly. after soldering rail joints, i use a fine grit emory board and the glove to remove any stray flux from the top of the rails.
evey couple of months i apply a minute amount of WD-40 to the rails to enhance contact.
i can’t remember the last time i cleaned any wheels.
i think track cleaning can become an obsession and for my part, if the headlights don’t flicker, then, highball !!
I own the CMX clean machine as well as the Atlas track cleaner and run on DC. I like using the Atlas track cleaner to suck up dust and possible loose ballast, mind you medium size ballast can bind the suction mechanism from the Atlas car. Also the abrasive wheels seem to do a reasonably good job when run over the layout. The liquid dispensing part I believe is useless. One can not adjust the drip rate.
The CMX clean machine is true to its name, a clean machine. It works well. So my track cleaning train is a couple of home made masonite padded cars followed by the CMX machine followed by one more home made masonite padded car that has a rag installed over the masonite. This wipes up any residue from the CMX machine. This is usually run after the Atlas car has gone over the rails seperately sucking up the dust. <
What I would like to see from a manufacturer is a low heavy-duty flatcar with a load filling the low part with a pad underneath ( my current car is a weighted car base with a weighted thin basswood disk sliding on the rails attatched to a galvanized roofing nail protruding up through the center of the car.) Actually, basically any kind of track cleaner could be successfully disguised as a “lowboy” flatcar with a full load,and it would be prototypical to slowly run only one or twoof these cars in a train.( a second one dispensing an film of some type of oil such as Break Free, which I use after I run my car.)I have tried scratchbuilding one of these cars with little success, so it would be a great model to see be manufactured.
