Hi Fawlty Logic
Track cleaning cars are made by several manufactures I believe one of the European manufacturers makes a track cleaning locomotive for this piece of equipment as far as I am concerned all that is important is it works.
If a relco unit can be obtained this should be purchased and installed on the layout according to the manufacturers instruction, as well as fitting all rollingstock with metal wheels it will not do away with track cleaning but will help a lot.
The only real remedy for derailments are consistent wheel and track standards and well laid track that you can reach.
The minute track is difficult to reach Murphy's law as applied to model railways strikes, the derailment will be in the most awkward place to reach the train will have spread itself all over the layout causing maximum chaos and damage before you can stop the train.
If a rerailer is around it will have happened before the train gets to the rerailer even if it is only a fraction of a mm before the rerailer
regards John
Access should be at the top of our list, so if you can still cut out an access hatch, now might be the time to do that. Being right where you can see what's going on is irreplaceable.
You have the right idea about rerailers and ultra careful track laying. I find that rerailers have about a 75% efficacy, so see my first point above.
If you want to make sure you have trouble free track where you can't get at it easily, lay it all flat on a hard, smoothish surface and glue it in place. Leave a couple of thin gaps at joins for expansion, and at ever join make sure you beven the two most critical surfaces on each of the four rail tips at each join. The tire surface only needs a light rounding, but the inner flange surface should have a visible bevel. That way, if your relatively inaccessible tracks are on a curve, you will minimize the chances of flanges riding up on the rails and causing derailments.
Not to be forgotten are good truck movement, good bearing surfaces, good wheel sets properly gauged, good and matched couplers, properly weighted cars, ...ummm...oh, yes, and access in case things go wrong.
I am adding an extension to my layout and seem to have maximized layout at the expense of accessibility. I am sure I am not the first to have done this....that is, there will be sections of my layout that are hard to reach once fitted in place. What are some good tips/techniques for working with a layout that is "a stretch"?
For example, 1. What is a good technique for cleaning track at a distance? I see some wands with track cleaning pads for use on bridges and through tunnels etc. Any good? Anything else work? Is there a useful track cleaning car?
2. What is a good remedy for derailments etc. at a distance....apart from making everything as smooth as possible at the outset? Lots of use of rerailers?
Adding scenics will be a task, but I can manage it.
Thanks for any tips.