Lies my LHS told me!

You can never have enough trains!

1. Yes best way is to clean track by hand.

2.Yes.  My layout is 12x24 Fastrack and not fastened down.  Been that way for 3 years.

3.I am not sure about this one.

As far as the smoke fluid is concerned, I highly recommend MegaSteam. It is compatible with all manufactures, comes in 42 different scents and works great.

http://www.megasteam.com/

In my opinion:

1. Track cleaning cars do not do as good of a job of cleaning track as you would if your track is really dirty. However, they can get the job done a bit easier than it is for anyone to crawl around on a layout (especially if you have one where you have to climb on it like I do), and they are also great to clean it when the track is just sorta dirty.

2. I have never had Fastrack come apart and I have never screwed it down, however, I have only ever used it on carpet and tile, never on a wood or homasonite platform.

3. I do believe that some manufacturers use different viscosity of smoke fluid, but I don't know if that makes enough of a difference to the engine. I just use Mega Steam, and have not had any problems in any of my engines (Lionel, American Flyer, Mth, Williams, or K-Line)

They are not lies, just opinions.

 When it comes to non-Seuthe smoke units, I tend to agree here.  I've used Lionel, MTH and Mega-Steam smoke fluids, and found them all to be acceptable in both my Lionel and MTH engines.  I tend to favor the Mega-Steam for the sheer number of different scents.

Andy

I purchased a Centerline Track cleaning car a few months ago. I used it wet once, and was not happy (nor were other members at the club whos trains were subjected to the beta testing!) as it spread black liquid all over the track. I've found it MUCH more effective when used dry with a VERY noticeable improvement after rubbing my hand along the track after the car has run a bit. 

My LHS told me that the reason they dont sell any MTH is because they are incompatible with Lionel trains.

BTW,

My fastrack is not screwed down and stays together just fine.

I have mixed smoke fluids in different smoke units and they still work just fine.

I tend to agree with all 3 statements.  That seems to mirror the responses you have gained so far.

I'd say the answers you were given were more right than they were wrong.

No track cleaning car is going to work as well as doing it by hand. They just can't create the downforce.

Fastrack should stay together and not move without fastening  - most of the time.

Most fluid IS interchangeable. There are a few that aren't. Suethe units must use Suethe smoke...

In my opinion the key to a track cleaning cars effectiveness is using it more frequently than you would clean the rails by hand.

I agree with all three opinions.

My own opinion, for what it is worth, is that all are half-true, half BS.

1. Track cleaning cars are not efficacious. They do not really work all that well. None are worth the price. All of the foregoing is BS!  The best method of track cleaning is by hand with track cleaner applied to a soft cloth.  True.

2. No need to fasten Fastrack to your layout. If it is part of a larger system of any size it will not go anywhere or come apart. Are you kidding me!  Complete BS.  Nailing it, or screwing it down only makes it louder.  True.

3. All brands of smoke fluid are completely interchangeable. Depends what interchangeable means, I guess - I suppose they all fit on the LHS shelf just as readily - that's interchangable from his standpoint!  It doesn't matter which manufacturer's smoke fluid goes in which manufacturer's engine. This one I kind of believe.  In some ways yes, in some ways no. Maybe the catch here is: the best smoke fliuds aren't necessarily made by any manufacturer that makes toy trains

I would also agree with those statements.

Sounds like their opinions that could be correct

My only issue with not screwing down Fastrack was that on my smaller layout it migrated, did not come apart but moved.  The Earthen bumpers must be screwed down with a bump and go trolley.  One side note, Because I am building a medium rail layout and I have scenery up on the ballast and even on the track for the city scenes, it really needed to be fastened down to the layout.

My Layout is small enough to clean by hand. Id rather use the money on a track cleaning car for something else.

I still have plenty of my Lionel smoke fluid and I just picked up my first MTH locomotive at the end of December, so I don't know much about which smoke fluid to use.

Everyone has their own ideas and opinions.  The best way to go that I have found is to gather all of the information that you can and formulate your own opinions and ideas that work best for yourself.  You also learn and retain more that way.  Just another opinion.

I agree fully with number 1. Partially with number 2, as it all depends upon how you fix the track down, and to what material you fix it. As for number 3, well, although almost all will work, some work a lot better than others. I'd also suggest not using a very thin fluid designed especially for Seuthe type units in a fan powered unit. 

#1 and #2 are correct.

Not 100% sure about #3, but it's probably generally true today for most O gauge trains.

Your LHS did not lie to you, and you owe the folks there an apology and several hundred dollars in items purchased.

1. Track Cleaning Cars - as someone pointed out earlier, they are meant to be run 'routinely'.  I run mine almost every time I run trains.  It's just gets attached.  I also have 3 cleaning cars - one is the home made one highlighted on this forum - others are from folks in WI and MA that make them.  I run all 3 together.  1 is dry, 2 are wet.

2. Track Anchoring -  I just screwed down track where I was having shorts causing the switches to chatter.  And I screwed down some bumpers.  Otherwise, gravity holds it in place.

3.  Smoke Fluid - I use the stuff made by the manufacturer.  Have no idea what happens if MTH goes in Lionel or vice versa.  The megasteam stuff was also recommended to me by my train shop.  I only have MTH smokers.

All of the above are my opinions and info I was told.  Hope that helps.

Where does one find the smoke fluid for the Sluthe smoke units?

I agree 100%.

I've used the track cleaning car from NorthEast Trains for years and I like it. To run a work train around the layout if nothing else.  All my track is accessible so I also go over it lightly with a green scotchbright pad once in a while.  I believe the car is a worthwhile investment for those with inaccessible track.  The pads sure get dirty, and if done regularly, will keep the track clean and be a viable option for your situation.  If you start having trouble with bad contact ( I never have ) in the out of reach areas, plan on crawling, but the track cleaning car with Lifelike fluid should make those occasions less frequent.  Lately, I wipe the track with a dry cloth after cleaning with the fluid and car.  I would suggest doing that where you can.  Personally, I would screw down the Fastrack.  5/8"to 3/4" #4 flat head screws are perfect.   Not big on smoke so I won't comment other than to say that if it smells better than Lionel's concoction, it would be an improvement. 

You must work in the newspaper business.  Why else would you start the thread  implying your LHS lied to you - not even a question mark.  Like the headline above the fold in a newspaper, which is the only part many people read, causing people to confirm the "old grumpy, unhelpful hobby shop owner" is someone you should avoid.

I expect his answers are routed in experience and based on my experience, I would have offered the same responses. 

Happy railroading,

Don

Disclaimer:  I have never had a track cleaning car.  But from the anecdotal evidence I've heard and read through the years (including much of this thread ), they are generally not very efficient. 

I've never fastened any of my track (and I've used tin, MTH Realtrax, and Lionel Fastrack) to my layouts.

we clean our track every day with a 1 pound aluminum block and an imitation chamois attached.  we dip the chamois into denatured alcohol, pull around the track in a modified flat car, we only go around once before changing the pad.  we do this until the pad is clean.  works quite well.

The biggest whooper that comes to my mind is in the late 90's, being advised to stick to conventional engines, the electronics are only a passing phase.  OK, he was right about PS1's.

The only other thing I (still) get from time to time is; better buy now, this engine will sell out fast!  I've bought several of those only after they were blown out at a much later time on special sale.

I use Mega-Steam in all my engines including several types of seuthe units with no problems over the past 12 or more years.  I am not an authority on smoke units, so I'm not advocating this, just saying it works fine for me.

Stack  

If it seems too good to be true then it probably is.

A track cleaning car isn't as effective as hand cleaning - but that doesn't mean it isn't a good investment. If you have a large layout with tunnels and hard-to-reach spaces, cleaning with a cleaner car once a week is a lot better than cleaning by hand once a year!

I've never used Fastrack except under the Christmas tree, but I find it hard to imagine not tying any kind of track down on a permanent layout. It probably would be OK if you are using carpet as a top surface. 

All smoke fluids are not alike. Some smoke better than others, and some are more prone to condense and block a narrow passage - especially the Y between the two stacks on an articulated locomotive with one smoke unit. Mega-steam disperses more quickly than most others, an advantage if you or your family don't care for a smoky room. 

I wouldn't call the dealer's comments lies, but certainly they are questionable opinions stated as facts, with the arrogance to state them as general rules when the truth is "it depends."

We're the only game in town ... deal with it!

There's no need to fasten FasTrack to the layout IF you have scenery features built up to the base of the FasTrack at a number of areas on the layout.  The scenery (plaster, Sculptamold, etc.) will do a good job of keeping the FasTrack in place.

I haven't gotten to the point of adding scenery to my layout yet (it uses FasTrack) and that track has not moved one bit since I laid it on the bare plywood.

Wow.  My LHS never lied to me.

I concur with your LHS's opinions. They are generalizations that anyone that has been in the hobby for awhile would tend to agree with.

I don't believe anyone really lies in the hobby. Their opinions may be different than yours so you may assume they are non truths... until you learn to take in everyone's opinions but draw YOUR own conclusions. 

In regards to the track cleaning car, I have a Trackman 2000, I use foam sandpaper pads cut to fit, I run the train once a week on all the track,  half of my track is completely inaccessible  so doing it by hand is not an option.  I would actually like to get a second to run as a air.  The work train special goes out and runs each section of track about a dozen times around, the amount of dirt that is picked up is amazing.  My signals and voltage readings are great.  Using this is more fun and more convenient. my opinion 

1.  The difference between "o" and 0-27 is the diameter of the circle it makes, but everything will run on either so doesn't matter which one you choose.

2.  You can use the smoke fluid in engines that used the smoke pellets.

While I agree with the first part, it can get tough to tell the difference sometimes when someone speaks as if they are presenting FACTS rather than their opinions.  For example, if someone told a noob that, "you can't operate scale sized cars with traditional sized cars", it would probably sound like a fact, even though most of us know better.  If the deception was deliberate, it would be a lie and not merely someone spinning their opinion.  Unfortunately, there are people in this hobby that have no compunction about lying.  I still believe most won't but the bad apples out there sour things for the rest of us.

The key is whether there is a deliberate intent to deceive.  That is my litmus test.  I do agree that the accusation is thrown around WAY too casually.

BINGO !