Here is a what if question,

[Anonymous]

What if someone were to design and make a Track cleaning car that worked on the same principle as a Rail Grinder train, You know where it might take a little off or even just poli***he rails a little to clean them. Goofy? Yes! But I have had a recurring idea on how to do this and make it work it may have already been tried and failed but I still cant get it out of my mind. I think a self-propelled car that could clean and poli***he tops of the rail could be done. If any of you disagree let me know I would like to open this up for discussion.... hey there might even be one out there and now I posted a stupid thing thats my luck..

[Anonymous]

I think it's a great idea. The train could even be made to resemble an actual rail grinder train.
I say go for it!!!

If you want advice just ask. I'm very creative in problem-solving situations.[8D]

[Anonymous]

Thanks Red, I am thinking of making this rail powered to do all the work for me rather then me doing all the work, I wonder if there would be any intrest in something like this for those with hard to clean layouts...ohhhh the questions just flow out of mind on this one......

[Anonymous]

Good news

If you could market this it would could become a big hit among hardcore railfans like those at the big conventions. Most large layouts have tunnels and bridges that cover the tracks with only small gaps to do work by hand. With a big enough layout cleaning by hand would take so long that it is just not practical.

Bad news
You should know this is not entierly a new concept. There are many track cleaning cars out there for all gage track. Some are "hidden in the underbelly of a caboose or other car, and others are exposed, just to clean and not for show.

Good news
That doesn't mean that your idea has to be a copy. How about a working, replica Rail Grinder train. I would pay a lot for a track cleaner train that is actualy "natural looking" and runs like they realy do.

Just remember that it's up to you what you want to make and how you want to make it. Keep your hopes up.

Josh (a.k.a. Red)

[electrolove]

polizi:

Very interesting. I think your idea is very good. Go for it, try to make a prototype and test it.

[Virginian]

I am sure you can do it. I am almost sure it will be too costly to be a commercial success. Trix will thank you, because you will make their stuff look cheap by comparison. Better get an NWSL catalog now because you're going to need one.
Good luck.
Seriously, I do believe a lot of people on this forum will be interested because we seem to have quite a few track cleaning fanatics. I often wonder if there aren't other problems that get blamed on dirty track, because I clean mine about once a year and the rest of the time give it a wishful swipe with a rag to get the dust off and I have no problems. And I run some fairly small steam with no tender pick ups too.

[Anonymous]

THere was one on Ebay like two weeks ago that someone had made out of a duplex. It had two little pads under it for mountiing sand paper on. It was cool. It was somebody's home made deal, and I'm sure a one off. I say go for it.

[ndbprr]

I think you should go slow on this. acouple of thousandths of an inch removal on a 4" high rail is far different from a removal on a rail seventy to one hundred thousandths high. Four or five pasees and you may have to replace the track. You are also throwing bits of metal around that could wind up in expensive drive trains. personally I would pass on this one if t was offered.

[DrummingTrainfan]

A track cleaning car that looks like a rail grinder...given it's not to expensive you may already have a customer. GO FOR IT!

[Anonymous]

I have worked out a mecanism that would allow a simple cleaning of the tracks with very little to no actuall track metal removal it would be far supieior (spelling) to any pad that would be dragged along the tracks and I am working on the problem of cleaning tracks on grade crossings and in tracks that are modeled in the pavement. I think with the design that I have in mind I can also address the problem of collection of the dust that occur. I am going to start looking into cost of making this I think under $250.00 is my target. Right now it is just a bunch of simple drawings and features I would want. But all great products start as a good idea.

[roadrat]

I would think that you need 2 small (n-scale?) can motors , one to drive the grinder car with its own (z-scale?) decoder,and a second motor to run the "grinder" wheel with another decoder to turn it off and on.

bill

[cheese3]

This is a great idea, go for it, I would buy one as long as it is not too expensive.

[ProtoWeathering]

Why try to reinvent the wheel? Fifty other people ahead of you have already spent the research and development money, designed a product and put it to market. Some successful and some not.

This is the best one out there that I've seen. I did maintenance for a huge (10,000 sq ft) G scale museum layout and the Trackman 2000 was the only efficient machine we tested and used. And we tried them all.

http://www.trackman2000.com/index.html

[TrainFreak409]

The TrackMan 2000 is a great car, and basically works on the same principal, but doesn't grind the track. But, it polishes the rail, and works wonders.

But, as long as it isn't too expensive, I would definately buy one, especially if you produced a working model of Loram RG 311, since that is the one I've seen in person. But, that is like a seven to nine unit train. Their newest grinders look pretty cool, and they are only two unit sets.

Go to loram.com and check them out.

[twhite]

Walthers distributes a rail-cleaning car somewhat like what you describe, with two spinning pads that are spring-loaded onto the rails. I have one, it's really efficient, I usually run it in a train with another car that contains a cleaning pad similar to a Brite Boy slung between the trucks. So the concept is out there. But here's the rub--that rail-cleaning car is incredibly TALL, due to the two vertical can motors that drive the spinning pads--it's disguised as an 'extra-height' boxcar, and it weighs about six tons, and I have to push it around with one of my Mallets to clean the tracks. Needless to say, when I run a track-cleaning train, I can't do it during an operating session, it just looks too darned GOOFY! Now if you could come up with a spinning-pad rail-cleaning car that LOOKED like a rail-grinder, I'd be banging at your door, believe me! Frankly, I'd go for it, if I were you--I'd certainly be a customer.
Tom [:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by polizi

What if someone were to design and make a Track cleaning car that worked on the same principle as a Rail Grinder train, You know where it might take a little off or even just poli***he rails a little to clean them. Goofy? Yes! But I have had a recurring idea on how to do this and make it work it may have already been tried and failed but I still cant get it out of my mind. I think a self-propelled car that could clean and poli***he tops of the rail could be done. If any of you disagree let me know I would like to open this up for discussion.... hey there might even be one out there and now I posted a stupid thing thats my luck..

Actually Atlas does for n scale, I have one and don't really recommend the sander part >



I should add, they have an abrasive disk that spins from a little motor, you would push or pull the car with an engine. I tried it and was not happy with the grinding it did, it left major scars on the rail. Also it has a polishing pad AND a ballast cleaner feature so to speak, it has a vacum cleaner attachment, I have used it a lot and it does work, I have grabbed stray ballast, lots of dust bunnies [}:)] and the occasional microscopic spider and dead fly.

[Anonymous]

While all the example are great none will do all the things my proposed idea will handle and look as good but thanks for the up and down comments I am going to keep going on this design as my idea will work and not scar the rail like some of look out of place as others.

[nfmisso]

In the late 1970's MDC offered a track cleaning old time diesel, with spring loaded sanding pads on each corner. They were offset, so that they rotated slowly, functioning somewhat like a valve rotator on a diesel engine.

Another company took this model, and added a gear drive from the motor to the sanding pads, which also could have polishing pads mounted instead.

Neither were particularily good due to the wear on the rails.

Take a look at the cleaning car Tony's offers.