Triang / Hornby track cleaning car - prototype?

...and we wonder why the general public perceive railway modellers as complete nutcases who should be separated from normal society....

Disgusted, Steve

Dunno, heard magpies have pretty bad habits in gardens so should be shot on sight, but do crows have a similar reputation ?

cheers, Simon

In message , Steve W writes

What? Even if I weren't a railway modeller, I'd feel the same way about squirrels and cats, as do the next-door neighbours on both sides, and they definitely are not railway modellers.

Grey squirrels are vermin, just like rats and mice. And we're not troubled by cats, because luckily none of my neighbours has one. Or if they have, they keep it/them under control on account of our other neighbours' dogs and the local urban foxes. And why shouldn't the local crows get a decent feed now and again?

In message , simon writes

As far as I am concerned, crows are OK. The help keep the garden nice and tidy, disposing of all the dead squirrels, etc.

solution: trap the cats and squirrels and leave their carcasses out for the crows to dispose of.

...and we wonder why the general public perceive railway modellers as complete nutcases who should be separated from normal society....

Disgusted, Steve

Dunno, heard magpies have pretty bad habits in gardens so should be shot on sight, but do crows have a similar reputation ?

cheers, Simon

Once saw a magpie take the eye out of a new-born lamb and are considered to be airborne 'rats'.

Grey squirrels, apart from being an imported tree destroying pest, are also considered by many to be vermin.

As for cats ! I think Jane was joking, but their are many gardeners who would agree with her. Solution ? get a dog.

and as for " the general public perceive railway modelers as complete nut cases who should be separated from normal society " our pet hate at the moment are these idiot youngsters who ride these 'new type' scooters up and down the road at full throttle every night with no place to go. Put 'em all in a car crusher with them still on ... that's what I say ... rant, rant, rant !

Chris Brett

Jane Sullivan wrote :-

" As far as I am concerned, crows are OK. The help keep the garden nice and tidy, disposing of all the dead squirrels, etc. "

We have no crows locally as the grey squirrels have destroyed all the tall trees they nest in .... Jane, are your crows fitted with silencers ?

What were we talking about ?

Chris Brett :-)

"simon" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

...emon.co.uk/railway/railway.html

Actually Jane's to blame for all that, I saw her site years ago and thought to myself "How the hell do you (1) Keep it clean (2) Keep moss and alge of it and (3) What do you do when it snows? And it set my imagination running and of course being somewhat ont eh lazy side I put some tought in to how would I do the things above with the least effort. Consequently I now have a track cleaning wagon *that does clean my tracks* and fingers crossed I shall have an entire train that not only cleans the tracks as requied but keeps them clean.

Trust me when I say that if you run a model railway in a garage that's also used as a workshop and some of your machines include a bench sander, bandsaw and electic fretsaw keeping tracks clean takes on a whole new dimension.

I find that the dust lends an air of authenticity, one might say -- atmospherics!

Chris. Whould you consider posting some photos of your track cleaning train? I'm attempting to build something similar - so far the train has:

The Hornby/Triang felt pad thing (with extra weight). A dapol Interfrigo wagon with a chunk of Pico track rubber underneath. A couple more wagons on the back with Gaugemaster axel-mounted track cleaners to act as sweepers at the back.

I plan another wagon with a Hardboard polisher. If that lot doesn't do it, nothing will!

On the other hand, I keep looking at this :

Nice but pricey, as is this:

Useful background info on the CMX Clean Machine, and suggested alternatives for rail and wheel cleaning (with cautions on solvent use) at:

Lots of other info if you Google on: CMX Clean Machine

Adrian wrote in news:45c8567b.0@entanet:

I'll see what I can do, at the moment only the converted wagon is in operation to "prove the concept". Making a good fan is proving problematical.

Back in January I wrote :-

" I got another a few years ago and tried using meths but they have stopped selling it around here, you now need a special licence apparently ! "

To which Chris Wilson replied

" Try your local non-mega-chain chemist and if you ask really nicely he'll sell you some undyed Meths. "

You know when you are looking for something you just can't find it then when your looking for something else you find the original item ?

Walking round Wilko's with the 'better alf' and had to move one of those mobile sales stands ( they use them for special offers etc. ) and what did I find tucked away on a low shelf ! ?

Problem is now I will have to finish off little'uns railway now !

Regards

Chris

I'm surprised the local "down-and-outs" hadn't discovered it!

If they did they would have to get past a very formidable security guard

Chris Wilson wrote :-

" I'll see what I can do, at the moment only the converted wagon is in operation to "prove the concept". Making a good fan is proving problematical. "

I assume one of your problems is supplying enough power to both the fan and the loco pulling it plus the additional weight ! ?

My other hobby / interest is computers, in fact this hobby predates the model rail by about 10 years, I saw something the other day which got me thinking on your idea / problem.

Prior to the days when you could buy compressed air cans for cleaning keyboards, motherboards etc. they used to sell ( and still do I thin ) little vacuums cleaners powered by a 9 volt PP3 battery. They are small and fairly lightweight !

If you used a rechargeable NiMH PP3 ( no memory effect ) of say 250mAh it should last for some considerable time prior to a recharge.

Chris B

"Dragon Heart" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

Not so much that in itself but providing the motor powering the fan with a *constant* supply of 'lecci at the right voltage in order to ensure that the motor constantly runs at the correct speed.

What speed that will be still has to be determined as making a fan of the correct size and shape isn't the easiest of jobs, obviously I want it as efficient as possible - hence a ducted design in order to shift as much air as possible. Even so the load on the motor is going to be quite light when compared to (say) pulling a train. No doubt I'm going to have to knock something together with a voltage regulator ... which leads on to the next problem ... where do I put the electrics without getting in the way of the air flow, am I going to need a heat sink on the VR and if so where do I stick that without it sticking out like a sore thumb?

If I carry on at this rate I'll need yet another carriage just to house the electrics!

Should be fun.

Assume you have all seen / read this ! ?

Chris B

"Dragon Heart" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

Yup

Yup far to expensive, besides mine will be better :-)

The first step to finding a solution is to define the problem.

Regards, Greg.P.