Advice needed on railcleanercars

[bartje]

Post a new topic, the button says. Is this a new topic ? For me it is, so here I go.
I am considering the purchase of a quality railcleanercar (Aztec or Central Valley or . . )

Is anyone out there so kind to give his/her opinion on the choice I should make ?
They're not cheap, you know.

Thanks a lot,

[goodsptsed]

In my case I don't get a chance to operate my layout very often, so clean track is a constant problem. Like you, I hated to pay the big bucks for a decent car. But I recently bought a new DCC system and at the same time I decided to spend $99 on a CMX track cleaning car that is produced for Tony's Train Exchange. Thus far I've been pretty happy with the results. I had some Acetone that I use in golf club making and put some of that in the tank and got good results on some really dirty track. Tony's has a lot of information on their web site about track cleaning solutions, etc. and I recommend trying that site before you purchase one of their cars. But in my case, it has worked pretty well. As far as the other brands, I haven't tried them so I cannot compare the results. Hope this helps.

Joey

[cacole]

The CMX Clean Machine from Tony's Train Exchange or a Centerline brass track cleaning car might be worth the investment if you have a layout any larger than 4x8, especially if you have tunnels and bridges where you can't reach to clean by hand. I have no personal experience with the Aztec cleaning cars, so can offer no opinion about them except to say that their advertising hype makes them sound OK. None of the better track cleaning cars are cheap. I have had very poor results with the type that just use a block of stone or piece of cloth under a caboose (IHC) or flat car (Ribbon Rail). The IHC track cleaning caboose with a reservoir that can be filled with track cleaning fluid is a good approach, but their pad is way too small to give good results. The Ribbon Rail car, which has a piece of stone similar to a Brite Boy under the flat car, could possibly scratch the rail if you use it too much.

[Anonymous]

I did own the centerline,$64.00, www.centerline-products.com but sold it and stepped up to Tony's clean machine
$99.00, http://www.ttx-dcc.com/technews/clean_machine.htm

IMO, if your layout is less than 200' single deck and you can reach all your track, you don't need a expensive track cleaning car.

I have six different liquid cleansers, brite boy and MAAS, www.maasinc.com and the $3.00 MAAS paste does an outstanding job to the extent that I no longer use any of the above.

Should anyboby still be interested in the Tony car, mine is up for sale.

Chuck Walsh
[e-mail]

[bartje]

Thanks for your opinions,
I understood that the CMX is the car to have unless you (can) decide to do al the celaning by hand.

Other choices are CV, Aztec, but certainly not the cheaper cars from IHC, Ribbonrail, or, in my case more probable, Roco and Fleischmann.

You helped a lot.

[der5997]

May I come back to the question of which fluid to use? (I am asuming the MAAS paste doesn't work in any of the cleaning cars, even the ones with boards or blocks, please correct me if this is wrong)

goodsptsed mentioned Actetone, and I am wondering if that might not dissolve the plastic ties. It certainly doesn't sound compatible with foam board. I've tried Goo Gone, with my CV cleaner. It's fine for the ties and foam board, and seems to work to a degree witht he track, but I'm not entirely happy with it.
Suggestions?
Thanks.

[cacole]

Yes, acetone will dissolve plastic, so don't use it if you have plastic crossties (sleepers) or anything plastic that it can touch. Acetone usually requires hand application and latex gloves, and evaporates very quickly. I have tried many different products, including Goo Gone, isopropyl alcohol, all brands of track cleaning fluid, clipper oil, etc., and have had mixed degrees of success with them. Putting anything on your track that is going to leave an oily coating is going to attract dirt and can do more harm than good in the long run. Acetone doesn't leave any film, but is a hazardous product to use. The best combination I have come up with for the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club's 20x40 foot layout is to use Goo Gone with a track cleaning car on a weekly basis, and then clean the track manually with Wadding Polish approximately every three months. Wadding Polish can be found at automotive supply houses or a big box discount store in the automotive section, because it is intended to be used to clean mag wheels, etc.

[Anonymous]

Or get 2 Centerline cars, one wet, one dry right after it. The club I'm in has a Tony's car that was donated by them. I am not fond of it, seemed to derail too much, and the whole calibrating the fluid flow hassle was too much for my liking. The Centerline car always stayed on the track.

[Anonymous]

I have used Goo Gone, Rubbing Alcohol,QD Contact Cleaner, Denatured Alcohol, Nail Polish Removal, Brite Boy,Wahls Clipper Oil,Act-6006 cleaner-conditioner, Aero cleaner/enhancer(.90 cents per oz) the Centerline car and Tony's clean Machine.

The $3.00 Maas paste, www.maasinc.com MR Jan 03 replaced all of the above.

Here's another five page opinion.

http://www.ttx-dcc.com/technews/cmx_chemist_review.htm

Chuck Walsh

[Anonymous]

Heck, I have used a small piece of masonite to clean my track (by hand). As always, be careful with any cleaner. Do not use Acetone on track with plastic ties, it will destroy what it hits, if plastic. Trust me on this one.

[goodsptsed]

Just a word on using Acetone. The amount that gets on the cloth cleaning pad is very minimal and I've never had any problem with my track and most of it has plastic ties. Obviously be careful filling the car and do that away from the track. Otherwise you should not have any problems. As far as handling the stuff, here's an eye-opening event. I had a sleep apnea test the other night and the nurse attached the leads to my head with glue and then the next morning removed them with straight acetone out of the same type of can I buy the stuff in from the paint store. I guess it's safer than I thought or you wouldn't think hospitals would be using it on patients.
The more I hear about this polish, though, makes me want to try that stuff ASAP.

[AltonFan]

I run an N scale track cleaning train consisting of two coal gondolas equipped with masonite pads (the masonite is glued to nails, which are inserted into holes drilled in the cars), two Centerline cars, one wet with Goo-Gone, the other dry.

The main challenge was making sure that the masonite pads were striaght, and only wide enough to cover the rails.

[detting]

I used to be a big fan of abrasive cleaners. I would use 600 grit directly on the rails. This would get the rails clean, but it would have to be repeated before each operating session. The steel rails would oxidize because they were not protected from the air.

I have since switched exclusively to nickel-silver rails. There is a difference in track quality and it is worth the extra money! I would not use an abrasive method. I was in a club where the Bright Boy was the preferred method of cleaning. It seemed like I spent more time cleaning track and cleaning wheels than running trains.

I like the Centerline car and Goo-Gone. It is a lazy mans way to clean tracks and I have found that it does a good job even on 4x8 layouts. The secret is to moisten, not saturate the roller. I tack a single cleaning car and floodlight car on the end of a train and let them roll around for a while. The wet roller eventually drys out and becomes a dry roller to perform that function. While the track is wet, it is cleaning the wheels of the cars that pass over it. I run the track cleaner to clean wheels as much as I do to clean track.

It may be that this method doesn't pick up all the dirt, and the dirt is pushed around (and off the railheads) but it does work. As for the polish, it looks like it would make sense to do this as well.

[Anonymous]

I use WD-40 on my track. It's better than any other cleaner I've tried so far.

[Anonymous]

Just a note, never be tempted to use an sos pad or brillo pad to scuff up the track. I read that little bits can get left and end up in being drawn to the closest magnets, yup that's your engines motors... bad news!

FOr track cleaners people have suggested to me to use goo gone or denatured alchol. I have yet to clean my own tracks but am thinking about it.

I'm amazed your track cleaning cars cost so much, maybe it's awhole different thing but a shop near my home has cabooses with track cleaning pads on them for like 18 dollars.