Just wondering if anyone had a link to a tutorial or guide on building a
rail cleaning car.
Running N-guage but the atlas rail cleaner is out of era and way out of
location (I'm running a European layout mid 20's) and want to convert one of
my cargo cars to a rail cleaner.
Anyone? Thanks in advance.
Dave
Hi Dave,
People lump a variety of requirements under "rail cleaner"
1- cleaning months worth of oxidation of unused layout.
2- cleaning "gunk" off tracks.
3- cleaning dust off tracks.
4- maintaining electrical contact on regularly used layout.
#1 is probably best cleaned by an abrasive block cleaner such as the
Atlas track cleaner, but the others want something a bit less violent.
#3&4 probably just want a piece of hardboard with two nails glued on
sliding under a normal wagon with two matching holes in the chassis.
#2 is a more tricky one - I run HO and use a three step process: a wagon
mounted slider with a cotton/linen cloth cover with methelated spirits
(medical spirits US?) run around the entire layout to soften the gunk, a
dry cloth after a couple of minutes (giving time for the meths to soften
the gunk) to get the rails clean, and then a third wiper wagon with a
drop of oil over each rail to inhibit railhead oxidation.
The "problem" with this system is that the gunk on the wheels also gets
softened and then redeposited on the rails so it appears that running
gets worse - answer - clean the wheels, or persist with a regime of
spirits/dry/oil wiping.
I haven't tried to build an N scale cloth wiper wagon because I operate
HO but I could try to help design one if you want to try it.
Regards,
Greg.P.
NZ
Greg,
You used the term "hardboard" in your description of 3 & 4. Not sure what
the US equivalent of "hardboard" is, but I've seen references to doing what
you did using Masonite. Masonite is a synthetic "wood" (probably made with
fine sawdust & glue) that has a smooth side on one side and a rough side on
the other. The rough side has a whold bunch of little squares on it... kind
of looks like a tightly woven burlap, but it is actually part of the
material. It also has a kind of an abrasive, fiberous feel to it. I'm
guessing that it is just rough enough to rub gunk off of the rails as it
travels around the layout.
It is also available in smooth both sides and different thicknesses. One of
the most common uses outside of construction is for backing on clip boards.
dlm
I'd be fairly certain we're talking about the same thing.
Ours is smooth on both sides.
The leading and trailing edges need a slight chamfer so it doesn't catch
on turnouts etc.
Gunk is something that builds up over time - once you've got it down the
hardboard/masonite wiper will stop it reforming.
You could sand the board with 100 grit paper to roughen the surface but
I don't think anything more is required.
Regards,
Greg.P.
I believe Masonite is a brand name of hardboard.
From a woodworking book: Hardboard is pressed wood. Wood chips are
exploded into fibers with high pressure steam. The fibers are refined and
pressed into sheets. The lignin in the wood holds the fibers together
without additional fillers or adhesives. Tempered hardboard is
impregnated with a tempering agent (whatever that means), and baked.
Tempering increases strength and abrasion resistance, and reduces moisture
absorption. Hardboard is free of resin and oil.
It mostly comes smooth one side with screen impression on the other, or
smooth both sides, and there are a few other embossing options. Tempered
is generally darker than untempered.
It can be worked with hand or power wood or metal working tools. It can
be punched, die cut, laminated and bent in simple curves, but not compound
curves. It can be painted, stained, or varnished. It can be screwed,
glued, or bolted, but not toenailed.
There you have it. Probably the same stuff, and now you know more than
you ever wanted to know about it.
Masonite has become the generic name of the product here in the US.
Probably to the dismay of the Masonite Co. marketing dept. Everyone
calls it that. It has been available under that name since the 1940's,
perhaps even earlier. And the "rail cleaner" block floating under a
boxcar has always been made of Masonite rough side down. John Allen
used this style of rail cleaner car. It makes fine backdrop material
which can be bent smoothly around the corners of the room.
If you are buying/scrounging for it, ask for Masonite. Few people in
the US would know that "hardboard" is actually Masonite.
David Starr
I guess it depends on what part of the US you're in. I know it as both,
but then I'm more likely to be covered with sawdust than oil.
For the record, I'm in the "Lake Michigan" part of the midwest.
Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.
To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm
Have a look for the "System Joeger". I like it very much as it cleans
good enough but does not do any harm to the rails.
http://www.system-joerger.de/shop/index.php?cPath _4&osCsidÈa54a58f9e8b9936b56c712ec2b97de
That is basically what I am looking for. I was going to go out and buy a
track cleaning loco by Fleischmann but this car is basically what I wanted.
What I was hoping to build is a copy of a really old Fleischmann cargo car
my uncle has on his HO layout. It has 2 rotating discs (one for each rail)
which can be used wet or dry. I tried the importer here in Australia and
they said they don't make that style any more.
Ready made though - hard to beat. Might still make one just for the
challenge though.
I don't think so. The special about the "System Joeger" is the cleaning
pad. It is made of very tough felt. I assume he has a patent pending.
This felt is hard enough to be a good cleaner but it is too soft do any
harm to the tracks made of metal. That's the reason why I recommended
it. The mechanic to hold the felt pad is nothing special and looks like
lots of other cleaning cars.
Have you looked at the cleaning pads of Noch (nr. 60158 for N)?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMEF6
If you can read German, see also this article:
http://www.1zu160.net/test/noch-reinigungszwerge.php
(some pictures say more than many words .....)
I use them too. They are VERY good.
I have about 25% of all car equipped with them. They do not really clean
up dirty tracks as they are too light weight but if they are constantly
used they keep clean tracks clean.
Dedicated cleaning sessions happen only after longer times of no
operation (e.g. vacation etc.) and therefor heavy dust on the tracks.
David,
Have you considered the powered N-gauge unit put out by Tomix? While it is
definitely a Japanese pattern car, I wonder if the shell could be removed
and replaced with a scratch-built one of the appropriate era for your
operation? It is an active powered unit including a small vacuum system,
uses a cleaning liquid as well as powered replaceable cleaners (pads and
brushes as well, I believe), and I think someone had modified one for DCC
operation as well so the unit could be controlled at will (unless I have
that confused with a rotary snowplow somebody had done...)
Ed
I thought about it but I can't think of what sort of powered vehicle would
move around the tracks in the 1920/30 era. I suppose I could dress it up as
something like a mail car and stick it in a train with a dummy engine at the
front .....
Might be a good idea after all ...
I looked at this (German) page:
http://www.1zu160.net/nspur/gleisreinigung.php
and there I found this (US) product
http://www.centerline-products.com/info.htm
maybe the basis to make you own (mail) car.
It looks like nothing, maybe you could make it look like something.
:-)
--
Groeten van WedFr(e) te A.
http://www.treinenmuseum.nl /
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