@Diego posted:

Currently making a floor layout and an issue is some hair,cat litter, dust gets on my track once in a while. Will this type of stuff destroy my engine or is o Scale a big enough scale to be able to handle this type of stuff? I run Legacy diesels.

Well it’s not great. I would certainly keep an eye on axles and the trucks because hair will wrap around them and get into the gears. Keep vacuuming as best you can.

I'd step up the cleaning and vacuuming.....getting hair out of an axle behind a wheel is a PITA!

Use track with a solid roadbed (like fastrack) to help minimize what can get sucked up into the running gear.

Will hair & dust destroy my engines?

Yes.

@Diego posted:

Currently making a floor layout and an issue is some hair,cat litter, dust gets on my track once in a while. Will this type of stuff destroy my engine or is o Scale a big enough scale to be able to handle this type of stuff? I run Legacy diesels.

It certainly won't help them!  Hair can create a mess inside motors and gears!  Cat litter can jam the truck gears and create all sorts of issues.

I suggest some sort of underlayment that will keep track area clear of anything other than a little dust.

It definitely will, hair and dust will get into the gears, and will coagulate if there is any oil or grease. As someone with two dogs and a cat, fur gets everywhere as does dust. Agree that having it up off the floor, whether it is built in roadbed or something else, may help (fur and hair seems to kind of travel along the floor).

Another thing is you may want to have an air cleaner in the room, it can really help keep dust and hair and fur at bay.

It will definitely affect the engine performance and yes, can eventually ruin the engine components. Just do a quick vacuum before running.

Hair and especially dust also coat the rails and create the dreaded sparking. bigkid's recommendation of a good air cleaner is vital to happy running. The bigger the layout the bigger the air cleaner. I have built several of these based on a Bill Pentz design. Some for home use and several for medium and large shops.

https://www.billpentz.com/wood...lone/air_cleaner.php

If I am running a LASHUP. Will the front engine be the one that eats up all the dust? If so I may use a specific engine as head locomotive.

@Diego posted:

If I am running a LASHUP. Will the front engine be the one that eats up all the dust? If so I may use a specific engine as head locomotive.

There's certainly no certainty that will happen, my advice remains that solving the problem with the issue is the way to go.

Some of this is the same with computers. The worst thing you could do was put a computer at floor level, and many had the air intake low on the front and the PSU fan exhausts near the top.

At floor level, as you walk, there is a cloud of dirt, dust, carpet fiber, animal hair, etc that forms and anything, and I do mean anything, including a train, let alone an expensive Legacy is just subject to this at floor level. Even just storing trains at floor level, for this reason would be the worst thing a person could do. I would even expect to see dirt and dust penetrate what you think are sealed cars like passenger cars given any length of time at floor level. Raising even just a foot off the floor height wise matters-storage or running of trains.

In fact, I make this challenge. Set one car at floor level for 2 weeks. Place another car 3 feet up on a shelf (both starting clean). Which one is cleaner after the time period? You will be amazed at how dirty the one at floor level gets.

Do yourself a favor- get it off the floor.

A friend had a problem with the cats tracking litter out of the litter box on to her new hardwood floor.  I found a giant plastic pan like a buss pan that was over two foot by three foot and we put the litter box in that pan with a jute door mat in front of the box in the pan.  It solved about eighty percent of the problem.  Someone told me that the pan is a bread pan which the baker delivery trucks use though I can't swear that is what it is. It had some half inch drain holes in the bottom which I filled with hot glue.    I think I have heard of people using a small molded plastic swimming pool three ~ four foot in diameter in the same manner.  Also, some people put the litter box in a tub or shower which is not otherwise used.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.                                    j   

From experience, I can tell you it will bring them to a stop.  My first train engine stopped running it was around 1955 and my father took the engine for repairs and the person that got it running told him that it was full of wool from the carpets.  After that I ran in my bedroom.  It was my first engine which I still Have and run that old 307 Atlantic but not on hairy surfaces. 

I'm a carpet runner using Fastrak and even without pets there is always some dust and debris gathering on the track.   So every time before starting up I use my Craftsman V20 hand vacuum and spend a few minutes doing all the entire track I car reach.     I also built train shelters to protect equipment when it's parked.  Initially these were just to prevent stumbling over a parked loco but they evolved into tunnels.  On the outside they are just finished wood but then just for fun I added tunnel portals and interiors.   I made six to start with but since my carpet empire also runs under and behind furniture I added some more for dust protection.   They work well for keeping electrical out of the way along with the curtains that go to the floor.    Since like most of us I have more locomotives than I can fit on the layout whenever I move one back to the shelves I spend a few minutes in the cradle using tweezer to pull out any dust balls, hair, paper, etc,..   I used to have one of those mini vacuums for computer keyboards (long gone) so I'm think if I add a piece of tubing to my hand vac it will do the same.  Nice thing about the hand vac is the clear plastic dust collector, I have retrieved several detail parts this way.

-Mike in NC,