I have a small shop vac...but....the nozzle is still to big to get in small places on the layout. . I need something that will suck up things like loose turf....small ballast....dust....etc.. Something to get in all those little nooks and crannies...like between trees in a forest ! I would prefer an 'all in one' handheld vacume personally. I was thinking a 'keyboard vacume' but not sure if it has enough suction power. I also dont want to suck up n scale people or horses glued down already !! Been there...done that ! If you have something that fits the bill and a source for said vacume I would appreciate a link Thanks
Have you thought about going the MacGyver method? Maybe you can diy some form of smaller, flexible tube that you can shove into the end of the shop vac nozzle and by adding a hole or two (like a flute) you can control the amount of suction that's produced. When I get a dedicated shop vac, I'll be (to quote Matt Damon) "sciencing the s@#t out of it" to make something useable. That said I do have a hand held that has multiple small attachments - like this its ok, does the job but I find it frustrating having to hold both the vacuum and the nozzle when trying to get to those hard to reach places, good thing is it has the ability to change the suction and the long nozzle is extendable and has a flexible section so you can bend it around things. it will suck the paint off your house if you have it on max, but being a cyclonic machine you can easily fish out whatever got sucked up.
I have a small kit of nozzles, with some very small brushes, that [I think] came from good 'ole Harbor Freight Tools. They attach to the hose on a little Dirt Devil handheld vacuum. Can get at the small areas, and doesn't knock stuff down. Works great. Check Harbors out.
Vacuum hoses have a tendency to go all Godzilla on me. I use a lithium B&D dustbuster. Its powerful enough that you only have to get close, but storing it on the stand is a pita.
There are tons of mini/micro attachment sets you can get for your shop vac. Fairly inexpensive. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=shop+vac+mini+attachments&sprefix=shop+vac+mini Or maybe something similar to this with all the small attachments if you don't want to deal with the slinky shop vac hose. https://www.amazon.com/VacLife-Handheld-Cordless-Rechargeable-Cleaning/dp/B07QH5JV8K/
For 20 years now my main Vac has been a corded plug in Bissell 3 in 1 vac. The crevice tool is just wide enough to run down the track, My 2nd vac is battery powered and also runs off a power pack that can be plugged in and it goes by the name of Mini-Vac. Small silver tube with black ends and about 6 inches long. The kit for it has two straight tubes and two horse hair brushes that attach for delicate stuff. A small black cloth bag attaches to the side to collect the debris. The mini vac is 30 years old so I do not know if it is still made but it is the Cadillac of small Mini vac and runs off a 9 volt alkaline plus has a side plug to take a plug in wall transformer. 100_1024-1 by John Moore posted Feb 24, 2021 at 10:01 AM I have tried some of the crap on Amazon as far as very small mini vac and they have all hit the trash and the cordless vacs have all failed within a few years and not one has lasted over two years.
