Most Efficient Rail-Cleaning Car?

I use 3 Centerline cars in a row on my maintenance train. First car use wet roller, second car fine grit sandpaper I rolled up, third car dry roller. Works beautifully!

Tried CMX car, it kept catching on switch points, crossing frogs, had to replace pads often.

Just my thoughts-

ncng

I need to paint mine like this! ncng

Trackman 2000 -adjustable pad pressure, easy to change pad.

My refurbished and modified Lionel ($10) coupled to an old commercial built ($20)

Centerline - picked it up of eBay for under $30.  Best if you cudgel together a very mild abrasive block and also a magnetic block to run between passes with the rollers.  You'll be surprised at how much magnetic debris you will pick up.

I have some centerline cars and some I built myself. The rollers are loaded with weight but I also add some resistance to some of the rollers. The rollers are run dry. All of the rollers were clean in this train when it started and you can see the difference between the rollers with extra resistance added. I also run a magnet car up front. When the rollers are dirty, they get soaked in goo gone, dirt lines scrubbed with an old toothbrush, and thrown in the wash machine.

Thanks Everybody!

In my layout I have 124 feet of unbroken Atlas 2-rail track, with no switches or crossings, points or frogs to cross.

Would this simplify my choices?

Also, does anyone make a self-powered track cleaning car...a Cleaning Engine?

Thanks,

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(I got 6 "likes"among this morning's mail of 18 letters, which I just love to get!)

IMO none are worth a darn. I've had most of them and none ever worked. They all made to the dump.

The best is a rag and some alcohol, works great and it is cheap. 

i had posted pix of my 2 rail gon in another forum, will have to find it.  really a gon with a sled underneath, works great.

"Works great" and "None are worth a darn."

Well that sure presents a clear choice!

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WOW!

So many different track (and loco wheel) cleaning methods!

I watched 3 videos on different cleaning cars, pads, rollers, and cleaning liquids. (Alcohol, Goo-Gone, etc).

One guy says all he uses is a dab of Automatic Transmission Fluid applied with a Q-tip on an inch of each rail a few places around the layout, and (he says) that keeps his layout clean for 6 months!

I still like that Centerline brass car with the rollers that can be used wet or dry.

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If it has been a month or so since I have run the trains, or if I have been doing a lot projects on the railroad, then I use Goo-Gone, for regular operation of the Centerline work train I use alcohol. Just for regular operation on all trains I use Rail-Zip. About once a year I clean each locomotives wheels. I have no problems at all with electric pick-up on my layout. If I do, its a broken wire.

ncng

I might also add, I have no plastic wheels allowed rule on my layout. This is the #1 reason my track operates so well. ncng

OK then...it seems like the majority consensus is for the Centerline outfit.

Should I order one?

Bad Order Hal

Thanks Jeff, but I only run my one train on my one track, with no switches or crossings, just an endless loop, which most of you would find quite boring!

However I can put my short consist on the siding, and just run my 2 diesels, (GP-35 and SW-9), with a Centerline in between 'em!

How would that be?

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I get a hardened material in spots on my center rail, that comes off with a combination of Brakleen on a rag and elbow grease.  I have a NE Trains cleaning car (that's what Hugh Laubis shows in his post) which can be used with solvent  and a new one with powered rotary pads (which the mfr says to use dry, but neither can get that residue off.  I wonder if its grease hardened by roller sparks, or something from the Gargraves finishing that reacts to roller sparks.  I don't get it on the outside rails

The trouble is that by the time I make one lap, the solvents have evaporated.

My railroad doesn't have a center rail.

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Hal, that solves one-third of the track cleaning problem.

What he was saying is that none of the cars are worth a darn, and that a rag and alcohol..  i.e. using your own hand with a rag/alcohol and wiping down the track works great.

I also like the centerline product.

Yes it does, RJR, but only in the linear-length-of-track sense.

It does not however, reduce the number of passes over the track by one-third, thus saving no labor, but thanks for your interest nontheless. 

Bad Order Harold

Chris, it is not necessary that you translate for me what the gentleman had stated.

My Dementia has not settled in that deeply as yet. 

Thanks for your vote on the Centerline device.

Cheers,

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Hal, are you the fellow who had his Sunset Mogul for sale on eBay because it would not handle the 48" radius curves?  The pictures of your layout look like the picture in the auction.

Peter

HEY PETER,

You read the ad incorrectly, Sir!

In my ebay ad, I stated that my Sunset Brass Mogul requires a minimum curve radius of 48 inches, and that some of my curves were smaller, which resulted in derailings. 

It did just fine on the two 48" curves in the corners of my game room.

That's it...

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I stand corrected.  At least I got the right guy!!  Were you able to determine what exactly caused the locomotive to derail?  After my 36" radius S curve experiment with a 2-8-0 I would have thought a 2-6-0 would have no problems at all.

Love your hat BTW...........

Peter

HEY PETER,

Yes, I was able to determine exactly what caused my 2-6-0 Mogul to derail:

The 36" curves were too tight!

It could be that your Consolidation has blind drivers on axles #2 and #3, which would allow operation on smaller curves. 

My Mogul has large flanged drivers on all 3 axles.

(No highballing in the Yards...)

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Please take a look at this 'How To' piece I put together on the functional upgrades to the Lionel unit. It scrubs and works great.

http://www.jcstudiosinc.com/Li...Cleaner-3927-Upgrade

Thanks, Hugh!

I operate on a different Planet than you traditional 3-Railers, but you're sure making things work for you!

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Hal,

The 2-8-0 has all drivers flanged, so that's not it.  What I meant by "why exactly" was did the cab strike the corner of the tender, or did the front 2 wheel truck hit a cylinder or was there not enough side to side play in the 3 driving wheels?  Reason I ask is I like the Sunset Mogul but if it can't be "fixed" to handle tighter radius curves I will avoid getting one.  Thanks.

Peter 

HEY PETER,

The owner's manual says that the minimum curve radius should be 48 inches.

If you can't provide 48 inches, then don't try to "fix" anything...just don't get the Sunset Mogul!

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Good morning Hal

I have the centerline cars and like all track cleaning cars once the cleaning pad gets dirty it doesn't do much, can't clean with a dirty pad. kinda like wiping your clean hands on a dirty shop cloth. Best thing I found is a block of wood and a shop towel, dry or with your favorite solvent. A long handle drywall sanding tool works good for extended reach.Track cleaning cars get the hard to reach places. Don't forget to clean all your rolling stock

wheels.  I like your train display

Clem k

Greetings Hal,

My vote would be for the "wipe it down by hand" method which would work pretty well on your layout (from what I see in the pics).

I would stay away from ANY kind of abrasive because all they do is manufacture fine grit.

The real solution (my opinion) is to go with RC rechargeable battery power and you don't have to worry about cleaning track. You have a small number of engines, so it would not be cost prohibitive. There have been a few threads on the subject on this forum. I'm sure "search" would pop them up. Andy Romano who posts here on occasion has been using rechargeable battery power for years. You could do a search for "Ironbound" and find some of his threads on his pike.

Have a good one,

Simon

HEY SIMON,

My layout is easy to clean by hand except for those long stretches between the mountains and the walls.

That's why I bought a pole sander, which can be fitted with a solvent pad for reaching those inaccessible places.

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HEY SIMON AGAIN,
 
I would like R/C battery power too, except I would lose my Diesel Sounds.

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That is nuts. Some of the Sunset 4-8-4 locos only need a 48" minimum radius. Why on earth Sunset would build a 2-6-0 with that restriction is beyond me, but a quick check of the website shows that the SP 0-6-0 is listed as needing the same radius curve.

Not a bright move, IMO. I would venture a guess that 75% of two rail modelers have tighter curve restrictions then that.

Jeff C

B.O.Hal:  How did you fasten the pad to the pole sander? And what did you use for a solvent pad.  I have a bunch of telescoping aluminum poles that came with elastic band slipon mops for washing cars.

HEY RJR,

The pole sander ($20, Home Depot), comes with a non-removable backing pad.  To that, I added a piece of white absorbent cloth, (cotton, I think), cut 2" longer than the pad, and clipped it in place with the cam-actuated clips on the back of the unit. 

Than I saturated it with an ounce or so of Denatured Alcohol, and reached into the places where my arms weren't long enough, lightly dragging it over the rails.

I can now reach all 124 feet of my layout's rails.

It works great, but the real reason I want R/C battery power is for the walk-around  advantage.

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Thanks, Hal.  On a long reach, is it easy to keep the pad on the rails?  These carwash poles I have have a backing pad (which I expect Brakleen would dissolve but alcohol probably wouldn't) but no clips.  I suppose I could use black paper clips, which could help keep the pads on the rails.  But I'll have to pay a visit to HD or Lowes.

Walkaround is great.  I never had it until my son bought me a DCS outfit the week it came out.  I had no DCS locos and used it to run conventional only for a good 6 months.  Being able to be by the loco, and where switching is taking place, gives a whole new perspective on train operations.