Thanks, but no thanks JD.
I will join you with a bourbon! [(-D]
Happy track cleaning.
Mike.
The CMX Track Cleaning Car has certainly achieved god-like status over the years, and I have one myself. I use denatured alcohol in the car.
But other methods work just as well or better. In spite of the criticism hurled against it, I do use a Bright Boy to clean off dark black smudges. Also, denatured alcohol on a white cloth, applied with the cloth wrapped around my forefinger, works just fine.
My objection to the CMX car is that it cannot apply enough force on sone tough to clean spots.
Given the current SOLD prices on eBay, it may be time to sell it. I paid $100 to buy it new several years ago.
Rich
i glued a piece of masonite to the back of a brite boy. the masonite presumably doesn’t leave groves and i believe actually smooths them out along with pits
The ‘problem’ with a Brite Boy is not that it doesn’t work, and very effectively too, at removing schmutz and detritus from railheads. It’s that it introduces a thousand irregular asperities for microarcing, creates innumerable nooks and crannies for new dirt to settle, and screws up any ‘gleaming’ that might have been done.
At the very least, use the ‘washer trick’ after using a Brite Boy, to knock down the worst of the sharp little raised edges you’ve created. Better still, carefully use a couple of progressive fine grades of lapping film to bring the surface finish back, then burnish if so inclined. After that you’ll have railheads that don’t hold crap well, and that will cause arcing as little as possible.
I haven’t conducted the necessary careful research, but it stands to reason that microarcing damage from Brite Boy use will show up as pitting and other damage on metal wheels. A sufficiently damaged and dirty tread with substantial current going across it might ‘offset print’ microarcing damage onto even the best superfinished rails…
As usual, actual selling price on eBay is lower.
I would need to find it first!
I paid less than $140.00 (Buy It Now) for mine.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
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How hard is the CMX car to pull?
I have a pair of Athearn SD-40s that I plan to wire together (for 24 wheel pick-up) to pull my track cleaning train. The train will be the CMX car, two idlers, a wiping car, two masonite block gondolas, and a caboose.
Should this get the job done?
-Kevin
Different strokes for different folks for cleaning cars. I don’t mind cleaning track and haven’t done it in awhile since focused on the scenery and wiring. Whenever time to do it, will use masonite.
Call me cheap, but can’t stomach paying $150+ for a cleaning car, esp. when there are far, far less expensive options. Others can debate the most cost-effective approach. Again, do what works and whose to say otherwise.
I hope people don’t get turned off to the hobby in reading you need to pay such prices just to clean tracks.
Do yous guyz like running trainz, or do yous like cleaning rails when it seems you must? Me, I like running da trainz, an’ I can do dat when I run the CMX car behind my prized Y6b. Get two t’ings dun da same time. But, yous gotta do what yous gotta do.
Leva da gun, taka the CMX and da cannoli.
I have not even tried out my CMX car yet. I decided to buy it entirely on the positive things I heard about them.
-Kevin
Same here. I can sell mine as Like New.
Rich
I use the CMX car like yours filled with 99% alcohol , followed by a flatcar, then a Centerline Roller Cleaner car. The Centerline car picks up a ton of gunk the CMX misses. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7dBx3mSYUBQ
Had a Centerline, didn’t like it as itwould get stuck on occasion by the pad catching a point (no the turnout was not bad but the pads they use can get cought if the point moves up ever so slightly, well within tolerances of tunning trains). I also use a bright boy with no ill affects but then I have a home layout.
I got my CMX car on the cheap (compared to some prices quoted here) at a train show. Absolutely love it.
My track cleaning consist is a CMX car, a Centerline “mop-up” roller car ran dry, and a sliding pad Walthers car.
I use 91% alcohol, and after just 2-3 passes, everything runs smoothly. I do not need to manually clean tracks, nor do I need to clean with the CMX & consist every time I fire up the layout.
Those who resort to “manual cleaning” spend time doing it, before they can run trains. With my track cleaning train, I can run trains while cleaning the track.
I feel my time is important, and worth something, so anything that saves me time and allows me to run trains faster is well worth the money in my opinion. Too many people feel that cheaper ways are the best, but do not count their time as a valuable expense, and if they did, the cheap way turns very expensive in a hurry… Sometimes spending the money up front saves expense (and time!) later.
I treat car maintainance the same. While I could do my own oil changes, tire rotation and changes, etc…, the time spent doing it is a expense. Plus the agravation of doing it in the driveway, exposed to any weather, etc… The neighborhood mechanic has the proper tools and equipment, a roomy workspace protected from the weather, knowledge and know-how, and can get it done quicker than I can because of having a lift, etc… So spending the money for him to do it is worth it in my book.
Yes, each must decide for themselves on if their time is of value. I feel mine is, and will happily spend a few dollars extra now to save my far more valuable time later.
I started using the rough side of masonite I cut and run along the tracks myself. Very easy. I like the results too. No chemicals needed.
I have the Centerline roller cleaner, never gets stuck.
The CMX car is fine, but you still have to manually (finger) clean tough spots.
Rich