Accessory idea-train vacuum tunnel

Ahitpy posted:

I seem to recall that ARDUK Engineering used to make an accessory for cleaning trains.  It was a tunnel-like structure that was hooked up to an air compressor to clean engines, cars etc.  I would think a vacuum of some sort would be appropriate.  

Is this still made?  It may not have been ARDUK but someone else.

Any info?

Sounds like a neat idea.

I think you'll find that a vacuum without something like a brush to actually move the dust off the train would be ineffective.  If you have a strong enough vacuum to actually clean a dusty train, you'd likely be losing all the detachable bits like the VL-BB whistle, as well as the whistles from various other Lionel locomotives with whistle steam.  Any other loose bits would also fall victim to the vacuum as well.  Probably a better idea is some airflow through the tunnel and some air jets.  Still might blow some bits off, but not as much risk as a powerful vacuum, and they've be laying around in the tunnel.

I use a very soft artist's paintbrush. Turned sideways for the walkways, etc. Very soft. But it gets the dust off.

Rather than a vacuum, an air chuck would be more effective at blowing the dust off.  I have a compressor in my garage that, among other things, I use to blow dust and dirt out of motors.  Be they a train motor or one of my power tools.  

A large make-up brush works well and it doesn't take very long - get a new brush - don't "borrow" one used for make-up

Trains could get pretty grimy when the dust keeps getting layered with smoke residue. I remember, a few years ago, a forum member posting pictures of Fox Tail type furniture dusters mounted inside a tunnel. Great idea and no added noise. I plan on doing the same, once I get my layout moved to our new home, either in a tunnel that is accessible on the back side or one that can be lifted off the layout. That way the dusters can be cleaned or replaced.

My idea is the air jets to get the dust airborne, and then a vacuum through the tunnel to collect the dust.  As for the noise, since I am not going to run this 24-7, I don't really care if it makes a little noise.

Guys,

I built something similar to what you are describing.

One reversed vacuum dedicated to blowing air down in the middle section of the box to blow the dust off, and vacuums on both ends to suck the dust out of the air so the dust does not escape the box. It works great. The reversed vacuum is dedicated to this purpose of blowing air out so I'm not blowing dust and dirt from the vacuum onto the trains at any time. Also the vacuum needs to be empty beforehand in case any parts might get sucked in.

Watch the dust on the cars before they back into the box and then see them when they come back out.

That looks exactly like what I was thinking, blowing to lift the dust and vacuum to remove it.  Nice job building it.

I have used compressed-air-in-a-can available at stores like Office Depot. It seems to work ok. The can gets really cold as you use it. I wear gloves.

The canned air gets really expensive, I use an air compressor with an in-line dryer and a fine nozzle to limit the force of the air.

John, it should be a pretty simple build and attachments are readily available. I used a less powerful vacuum to blow air down and more powerful vacuums to suck the dust out through the top.  My thought is that if something heavier than dust comes off a model then it might be heavy enough to fall down while the dust can be light enough to be sucked out of the top. If the vacuums are on the bottom then the heavier items might go down the tubes just as easily as dust due to gravity. I've used 2 vacuums to suck the dust out but someone told me there is a V attachment for the vacuum so I could have used one vacuum to suck the air out. Having two has come in handy for different purposes, anyway.

TNDENTRR, Compressed air is great but the purpose of the vacuum box is to make it so the dust does not escape back into the room and simply settle on the trains again.

Here is another way. Buy a  static duster. Cut it to fit a tunnel space and mount it in your tunnel, or perhaps as a drive-through building like a locomotive shop. Every time your train goes by it is dusted.

I published this in CTT January 2016

I dawned on me that some of us like to weather our trains.  Bring them to my shop.  They'll get weathered with sawdust in a day.....LOL