Don't forget the wheels!

Clean track can be deceiving enough, but also make sure the locomotives wheels are clean.  Many times I have a dead spot only to find out the locomotives wheels are "dirty". I clean them on a test track with a Handi Wipe adding a couple of drops of Goo Gone, then dry them on another wipe.  Amazing amount of black crud comes off "clean" wheels.  Same for "Clean" track.  For more in depth info on the Black Crud debate click here.   https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/black-gunk-12186610

Masonite works good

Ive built several cleaning cars using the masonite pad as the cleaner. If I have not ran for a while I use two cars, both have extra weight and masonite pads. The front car I spray some liquid wrench, the second pad is dry. I then shove both cars ahead of the loco. Seems to work well and the liquid wrench works well for cleaning loco wheels.

No issues with the liquid wrench, it seems to break the crud and clean well. I change the masonite pads when they get dirty, easy enough.

I still spot clean after scenery work, seems like glue always finds a way to get on the rails.

Even just dry pads work well, try a few youll like it.

I once had...

.... a track-cleaning car, loaded with mineral spirits. Was doing a good job.... until it caught fire. It was so realistic!. Jose.

Track-cleaner cars

Using a CMX car with lacquer thinner in my opinion is the best. It not only cleans the track but  if you push it also cleans the locomotive wheels.

Do not stop on turnouts!

Doug

Atlas track cars

I will be having a setup, where I will have one atlas track cleaning car running the buffers on top, followed by another behind it sucking the dirt up and then have a third car-like a freight car mop up behind that...

Not sure what's happening

Not sure what's happening with my CMX clean machine. When loaded with lacquer thinner and a fresh wipe it seems to work pretty well. But the cleanliness doesn't seem to last. I'm suspicious that while the lacquer thinner works well to loosen grime and crud, after a while the pad picks up enough track slime that it serves to spread a nice even layer of the glop around the layout. The locos pick this up on their wheels and then it's back to not running so well.

If this hypothesis is correct, running a roller/wiper car after the clean machine to wipe up the loosened crud should help.

Instead, I mostly just use a masonite slider car. I periodically check the state of the slider and when it gets dirty a few passes with 100 grit sand paper restores it to "like new" operation.

Masonite pads are also a lot cheaper than fancy brass tank cars and roller cars (unless you scratch build your own)

FWIW

Charlie

I still have to wonder how a

I still have to wonder how a CMX car filled with lacquer thinner won't ruin the weathering on self-weathered rail??

My dirty rail seems about 99% of the time to be from just plain "tarnish".  The nickel rail turns a yellowish tint-  to digress, yes, I smoke cigars while running ops...  ---IT'S RELAXING WHILE DOING A RELAXING PAST-TIME...  Ahem... anyway, I suffer very little from cruddy wheels.  It's there once in a while but that is kind of secondary to the rails themselves.  Again, for this kind of rail-corruption a masonite pad should do the trick.  An 'eraser' does work, but I have areas I'd like to find a remedy for.

I do believe some kind of liquid cleaner is the ultimate way to go, followed my a pad to wipe it away.  Just not sure how to cheaply incorporate this into my fleet.  I'd love the challenge of building my own, but the flow into a pad is the trick, in my way of thinking.

How about a car that wets the

How about a car that wets the rails with some type of cleaner through a pad (I've heard Windex works well), followed by a masonite car, followed by another whiping car with a dry pad, or even another wet application to pick up the crud from the masonite.

Jeff

Track Cleaning Cars

I use 2 CMX cars pushed by 5 locos. The first CMX car has a track cleaning solution in it and the second car is dry. I ran them around the layout a couple of times. This way all the junk from the tracks are picked up by the second car. You also need to change the pads other wise all you are doing is spreading the dirt back on the track and locos pushing the cars. Now I only run both of the CMX cars with dry pads once a month. I never have any problems with dirty tracks. I also do maintenance on all the rolling stock by cleaning the wheels by hand.

That is what I'm leaning

quote-How about a car that wets the rails with some type of cleaner through a pad (I've heard Windex works well), followed by a masonite car, followed by another whiping car with a dry pad, or even another wet application to pick up the crud from the masonite.

That is what I'm leaning towards. 

In a DIY mode, what's a good material to use for a pad?

Track Cleaning Cars

I usually run the battery powered leaf blower car first followed by a pair of track cleaning cars with dry Scotch-Brite pads all pushed by an SD-45 with battery backup.  This weekend I will probably have to pull out the snow plow after I chip off the sections of ice.  I am also thinking of adding some ice breakers to the snow plow as there seem to be some icicles at the tunnel portals.  I still have to prune the vegetation manually, and those pesky chipmunks have been digging around the waterfall and pilling dirt on the track again.  Hopefully this up and down weather and frost heaves will not throw the track to far out of alignment. 

Ken K

Cleaning

Our current set-up is a pair of locomotives followed by a Masonite slider car, then a CMX tanker using 91% alcohol, a pair of the brass roller cars, and then another slider.

The club's basement is poorly ventilated, and mishandling of lacquer thinner in the CMX threatened serious flex track damage. More disciplined people can probably use it successfully.

Pushing the roller cars with their talgo trucks was an abject failure.

...

Ken, you cracked me up...oh ho ho ho, indeed how large scale does change the game!!

Masonite Cleaner Car Consturction

I've been reading a lot about using a masonite pad as a track cleaner.  How is this mounted in a rail car?  Is it weighted or held down by a spring?  I model in N-Scale.  Is this type of cleaner practical in N-Scale?  I've been having problems with dirty track.  I've tried using the brass roller with J-cloth strips soaked in alcohol but it always gets hung up on the switch frogs.

I need some tips on building a masonite car.

Doug

Track Cleaning and NMRA

Hello,

With some prodding from myself and others, the NMRA is going to look into track cleaning methods. I have done some investigation and experimentation myself and after trying all sorts of different solvents for cleaning, have come to the conclusion that Acetone is the best. I found Lacquer thinner, varsol/mineral spirits/turpentine to be very effective but also hazardous to your health and very flammable. Acetone is almost as effective, less hazardous to your health and seems to have a lower risk of catching fire due to the presence of some water in the commercially available Acetone that you buy at the paint store. The Acetone is much more effective than rubbing alcohol and other solutions that I tried.

I am currently conducting experiments on different treatment methods, comparing No-Ox, graphite, ACT-6006 cleaner and no treatment to see which last longer. Jury is still out, I started in the new year and the track is still clean enough that there is no stalling despite the fact that the rails do have blank gunk on them.

I was using the Aero-car ACT-6006 cleaner in a CMX track cleaning car, but now I suspect that I will be switching to using straight Acetone.in the car. I still lean towards the CMX car as my preferred cleaning method, but I do go through 3 or 4 of the pads in a cleaning session, and I only have a small layout. It is much more pleasant to simply run a train around the track with the track cleaning car than it is to take a cloth and rub down the rails.It might actually take longer using the track cleaning car, but I don't doing it compared to doing it by hand!

I have also used a masonite pad car and they work well, except that the masonite quickly gets covered in black and has to be cleaned. I use soap and a toothbrush to clean the pad. I would use the masonite car more as a preventative maintenance practice rather than using it once the track has gotten really dirty since the pad gets dirty so fast.

Brent

Just finished an OPs session

Just finished an OPs session with eight operators and the railroad ran flawlessly. I run DCC with sound in some locos - 280 ft mainline, five sidings, 3 yards with 5 - 6 tracks each in a basement room with a bare concrete floor off the garage - not the cleanest environment. I clean my tracks with a Masonite pad car and an eraser car pushed by a single loco - that's it. Visible track will get a swipe from a LGB track cleaning eraser I also use on the garden railway. Like previous posts said, I check the Masonite pad and sand it when it's dirty. Ditto the eraser pad. 95% of my rolling stock has metal wheels, soon to be 100%. 

Mike Coen

Western Pacific Oregon Division

Don't forget the locomotive wheel pickups!

We all clean the loco's wheels but how many of us clean the area that transfers power to the locomotive innards? Basically, make sure to clean the wipers on the back side of the wheels or in the bearing area for the brands of locomotives that pick up power through them.  I always seem to find plenty of crud, lint, and black gunk in those areas that really hamper power pickup.  I have been using a electronic component cleaner for this purpose as it cleans fast, can be sprayed into small tight areas and dries almost instantly and does not leave residue behind that can collect more dirt.

Track Cleaning

Is there any truth to using transmission fluid as a cleaner and preservative for the track? I'd like the real skinny on this.

Let's go sledding

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2012-12-dec/oep_classic-track-cleaner

As far as ATF, Mr Fugate has recommended it in the past, primarily to reduce arcing and pitting. ATF contains seal conditioners, seal swell additives and other elements that might not be friendly to flex track in large quantities.It also contains antioxidants, which could help out with track. Reports vary so much that it's kind of a case of trying a small application to see if it works for you.

Type Specific?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall that Joe recommended a specific type of ATF.  Was it Dexron 2?

Tried trans fluid

Track Cleaning Car

I made 2 track cleaning car from old hoppers. I cut out the middle of the car, so that a block of wood would drop through and sit flat on the track. I wrapped a strip of computer paper around the block, fastened on top with an alligator clip. Note the extra weight above the trucks. The block also has extra weight. The 2 contraptions are dragged or pushed around the layout twice, and we're good. It does not do a 100% job, but is more than needed for an operating session. No fluid is used - just the paper.

While I am at it, here is my loco wheel cleaner. Made from Plexiglas, it straddles the track, and allows the loco to pass under. I first lay a piece of shop towel over the track, wet the rail areas with track cleaner, then place the gizmo on top. I put one leg down first to hold the towel while I gently tug the other end of the towel while lowering the other leg. The idea is to have the paper taught to avoid having the air hose catching the edge of the paper.

Next, run the loco, full speed-ish when the wheels are on the wet paper. I hold the loco in place there and wiggle the loco side to side a bit to clean the flanges. Move to the next truck...same gig, the reverse the loco, and repeat the process again. Presto! Good to go - woo-hoo (or is it Choo-choo?). This gizmo is especially handy when someone needs a quick clean in the middle of an operating session.

Transmission fluid traps dirt!

I also tried the tranny fluid trick and at first it worked great, but then the problems showed up with poor running, traction issues, and a collection of crud on all the wheels.  Just stopped using it altogether.  Cleaned my track and now just run a slider car around once a week to clean track.  Also clean the pickups!

Masonite pads and cloth covers

One can make multiple masonite pads as they are so easy to make and just throw them away when they get too dirty. I slightly round each leading edge on my sander so they slide over gaps in track, turnouts, etc.  I also cut strips of cloth, dampen them in alcohol and stretch them over the masonite pad and hook one end over each nail I use to allow the pad to float up and down under the car.  Run the dry masonite pad for a couple rounds around the track and then a couple with the alcohol cloths until they no longer show any dirt.