I bought this used CMX track cleaning car from a TB member. It had one broken truck. I replaced them both with a matched set off an old boxcar. I also 'dressed' the tip of the center needle valve with some 1800 grit wet-n-dry sandpaper. Car works great now. I was going to use some 'Brasso' to shine it up. THE WIFE said she thought it looked fine in a 'Used' condition. I have to agree with her the more I look at it.
if ya remove that spring and or make it weaker locos can pull it much better. i removed mine an even my smaller 4 axle can pull it around... my 2 centsor maybe 1 cent if ya find it hard to pull around ,thats what did to make it pull easier. there is plenty of weight on that pad to get the job done with out that spring....
IKR... I always laugh when there is mention in online reviews about how well the car cleans rail because of how heavy the car is because its made from brass. The CAR weight has absolutely NO correlation to the weight on the 'pad'. The 'pad' is free floating below the tank. That spring does give more pressure to the pad on the rails. That's it...LOL My Trainmaster pulls the car just fine BTW so the spring stays...
40x60in was a dimension that I could slide the layout under a bed. I soon realized getting to ground level is not a good idea. I bought a clothing rack with wheels and cut it down to table level. Then mounted this short rack slightly off center under the 40x60 along the long axis, about 25in and 15in from edges, added 2 folding legs to the 25in side. Now I have a movable folding layout. It went in the garage when I had no time for railroading. Roll it out to work on it and enjoy trains.
I respectfully disagree. The pad is free floating. The weight of the tank itself has no bearing on the spring tension in the center.
As Sidney alluded to...you can remove that center spring and the weight of the pad (made from solid brass) will be enough weight for the cloth strip to still scrub the rails. There is not a lot of tension to that spring. I believe the spring is just there for enough pressure to keep the brass pad from sticking on the 2 centering posts.
There are apparently different versions (generations?) of this car, with and without a spring between the car body (tank) and pressure on the pad. For those that do have a spring between pad and "tank", including the one shown above, why is the spring there if not to provide some additional, compliant pressure on the pad from the weight of the car (more than just the weight of the pad?) If your spring is loose in there, and not applying pressure to the pad, then you may be either missing a part, or have an incorrect replacement spring on your car, or your replacement trucks are taller (bolster height) than the stock trucks, thus holding the car body up off the top of the spring shown. BTW, I agree with THE WIFE; it does look better with the patina intact.
While I agree the spring does put some pressure on the pad...I believe it is minimal at best. IMHO I believe the spring is there to prevent the metal pad from binding on the centering posts. Just an opinion with no scientific proof on my part. Sidney removed the spring from his and it has no adverse effect on performance. With all that said...people make their own 'home brew' cleaning cars with light boxcars and a Masonite pad underneath...pushed down with spring(s). Those boxcars are a ton lighter then the CMX car. Those home made cars don't lift off the rails from the springs pushing down on the pad and away from the car. The weight of the car is obviously not a defining factor IMHO. The CMX tank is made from brass. It IS going to be heavier. Having a tank made from brass as opposed to some other material is more then likely due because people put everything/anything from IPA to MEK and probably stuff you would need to wear a 'respirator' when pouring it in there ! Thus I still maintain the CMX machines heavier overall weight has no baring on it's designed performance. * WHEW * Yup...Me agreeing with THE WIFE...more times then I care to count...is more then likely why we just celebrated 39 years married this May 5th.. .
A very wise man George. I think my saying yes many times is why Diane & I celebrated 60 years of marriage this past February. I agree the CMX looks good as is. I have one that I bought when they first came out and wanted to paint it so it looked more like a real tankcar. I went back to my old model airplane days and used " Hot Fuel Proof " dope on it. Did a very careful cleaning of the tank and wet sanded with 2000 grit paper and sprayed with an auto primer then sprayed the " Hot Dope ". Guess what, after a couple of months the 91% alky ate up the dope and I removed the rest of it and car is still " brass ". But I had a lot of fun tinkering ! !
On the railcar, I agree to disagree. We are arguing past each other, and neither of us is persuasive to each other. Have a good day!
To respectfully agree to disagree is cool. For us to get feisty with each other wouldn't do anything. I appreciate the civil go around BigJake ..
That leaves the rest of us with nothing entertaining to read...... Anyway, my thought is it would depend on how strong the spring is as to whether or not the car weight would come into play.......... Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, I'll go crawl back under my rock now.
Too throw some spice into this discussion. My favorite track cleaning car is a homemade box car with a Masonite board floating along underneath it. I've never had any complaints as to how well or not it cleans the track. From my perspective of course. I also have a box car with a pad that floats around underneath it. I can add 90% Isopropyl Alcohol and it will grab the pollen (sticky pollen), cat dander, human dander, oil from greasy hands, oops'd WD40 from some of my earlier diseasels. Yep, and everything else that is airborne or physically transported to my layout. My trains are off and running. Well, not lately! As to what's been presented here. Great ways and means to clean the track on your layout.
It's irrelevant if the tank weighs 1 oz, 10 oz, 100 oz or even a ton, as long as the spring is not strong enough to lift the tank/car off the tracks, the spring sees the tank as a fixed constraint in a static force diagram. It is the trucks that hold the weight of the tank, not the spring. The tank doesn't move. Since the tank can't move as further weight is added, the compression of the spring stays the same regardless of weight. It is the spring constant and compression of the spring that determines how much force is pushing the pad against the tracks. The only way where the weight of the tank has an impact is if there are springs between the tank and the trucks and the tank is allowed to move further towards the tracks as its weight is increased. But the truck is directly supporting the weight of the tank without any springs.
You guys think MY mind works on another frequency? THE WIFE suggested I put one of these on a post next to THE Wash Rack... .
Having all that weight helps the car stay on track and has nothing to do with the cleaning pad. The cleaning pad could interfere with the car tracking so thus the car weight. On my home built cleaning cars there is some Tungsten putty on the pads the increase cleaning pressure. I did away with using springs and used the tungsten to keep the pads firmly on the rails. The support rods for the pad mounts now simply freely slide up and down as need in the car mounting holes.
