Track cleaning in N gauge

[NICK C]

Hello friends,

For quite a long time now i have been seeking a track cleaning product that will clean under obstacles such as mountains and goods yard buildings without me having to remove these items before cleaning.
I have been looking at the Fleischmann track cleaning loco which is priced at around $111 or £50. This product comes with replaceable cleaning pads that fit on the chassis and touch the rails.
If anyone knows of any methods for cleaning track, or of any products which clean the track please reply soon.


In about 2 weeks i should be able to post some general pics of my layout and of the signals.


NICK C

 

[Xaniel]

I've seen on a model site this device...

Is it any good?

 

[Gavin Miller]

Nick,

Check out the Tomix track cleaning car.

It has an on-board motor with interchangeable heads for track sanding, polishing or vacuuming (yes vacuuming!). It also has a chamber for liquid track cleaner which is spread on the rails with a sponge.

I just ran mine around my layout in vacuum mode and when I checked the "dust chamber" after one lap found loose ballast, fluff and dust collected from between the rails.

I would atach a photo but my daughter has borrowed my digital camera!

Gavin

 

[Vic]

Track Cleaning

Hi Nick, I don't mean to be a "naysayer" but I've never seen any kind of track cleaning device that really worked. Some work better than others but none will take dirty track and clean it. The best that can be hoped for is that the device will forestall for awhile the the eventual "elbow grease" method of cleaning the track. Just one of the "joys" of the hobby I suppose.

I'd spend my money on something else

 

[billk]

The vacuum cleaner sounds like a good idea if you're in a pet-hair envirionment. Even if not, forestalling the inevitable is still worth something.

 

[Gavin Miller]

Nick,

Here is a photo of the Tomix track cleaner.

You can see the motor's bearing sticking through the top of the body. The motor drives rail cleaning discs (or a vacuum impellor) below.

You can also see the black cap covering the cleaning fluid reservoir.

The control knob has three settings - "On", "Off" & "CL Power" (you need a Tomix controller for that. It delivers constant voltage to the tracks - usually for headlights - regardless of loco speed).

The removable section of the body covers the "dust chamber" which collects debris sucked up by the vacuum.

Gavin

 

[Gavin Miller]

Boy, I'm having lots of problems getting into "The Gauge" site at the moment.

Then when I do get in and post a message, it takes forever to come back with another "page not found" message. I try again and get "Sorry, the moderators only allow one post each 30 seconds" (huh?!)

I try again and, yeah, sure enough, the message appears TWICE - sorry about that!

As you can see from the photo, after one lap around the layout in vacuum mode with the underbody track "brush" fitted the unit has picked up loose grains of ballast and fluff/dust (in the hood).

Here's the photo I meant to attach to my first post (I got them in the wrong order).

Gavin

 

[60103]

Nick:
I had a Fleischmann track cleaning loco about 25 years ago and it worked OK for a while, but the replacement pads never stuck on properly.
I'm now working in HO and I just bought the Centerline track cleaner. I've been working with one on a friend's layout for several years and I like it now that we settled on a good cleaning fluid.
This one has a heavy brass chassis with a rectangular hole in it. In the hole goes a brass cylinder wrapped in J-cloth (a kitchen towel) soaked in track cleaner. This rolls along the track and gets 2 black stripes on it. It also picks up loose ballast if it's near the railhead.
They're made in most scales from N to G. My HO one cost about $40 (US).

 

[jmhewitt]

Thanks, Gavin....

ordered a Tomix track cleaning car from Doug Coster in Australia....it was pretty reasonable: U$60.00 delivered to North Carolina.

will report how it worked....

Michael Hewitt
Wilmington, NC