Track cleaning car

What is a good track cleaning car? I've read good things about the Atlas cars, but I'm not sure they're even available anymore. Can you still get the cleaning disks for them?

Opinions please, as they all seem to be about $60 and up.

 

Ryan,

I have aztec cleaner which is very good. I am going to get another one so that one is wet and the second one will be dry. I also have a centerline. These will work on both dc and dcc but if you get a Atlas you will need to install a decoder And the best place to get one is Wig-Wag trains for 87.

Alan

 

I have one of the Atlas cars, works very well. I use 91% alcohol with its and works great.

 

I've got two of the N-scale eliminators from Aztec ( Aztec trains ) and they work very well. Both of mine are equipped with Cratex rollers. They also have brushes that sweep debris off of the rails and magnets that pick up all kinds of little metal fragments (I don't know where the metal comes from). The Aztec cars are well designed and above-all simple so they don't jam or clog up.

[ March 25, 2006, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: Big Snooze ]

 

I've got two of the Atlas cars, and a Centerline. All work fairly well. You don't need a decoder in the Atlas car if you turn the voltage below 12v, which you should do for N scale anyway. Mine operate just fine on a DCC layout without decoders.

 

Pete,
This may seem like a stupid question (or two) but why do you have two of the atlas cleaners and add in a centerline car?

 

Tom,

First, I've got a big layout--850 feet of track. I've had the Centerline car for years. Then I bought a Tomix car (same as Atlas). Then the Atlas car. Generally I use the two in different modes: one vacuuming, one grinding; one dispensing, one drying, etc.

I guess it sounds funny, but I usually buy at least two of everything when it comes to cars and motive power.

 

I use the Tony's Trains CMX+ track cleaning car with 91% iso-propyl alcohol.

I also have a Centerline track cleaning car that I run "dry" when I have trains in operation.


Stay cool and run steam.....

 

Pete,

Now that makes perfect sense...

I've got one that I bought years ago...A ROCO car. It's got what looks like a bright boy attached underneath. Burlington Northern (Western Fruit Express)

 

I've got a Roco car too--forgot about it. I used it so much in the early days that I had to replace the pad. It had worn down to the point it caught on switches. I used a piece of masonite as a new pad. I retired it when I got the Centerline.

 

Pete or Bob,

What do you use to keep the cloth on the wheel. I tried to use thread but it keeps snagging all the time.

Alan

 

I have an Atlas car that I don't use much except in vacume mode. My layout is dcc and that thing sounds like it is screaming to be put out of it's misery - makes you want to wear ear muffs! I have 2 CMX track cleaning cars that I swear by. They work well with 91% alcohol.

Brian

 

Ryan:

The Atlas car is a Stock item at Atlas.

It should be at the dealer of your choice.

It is here anyway. Both with and w/o MTL couplers. Also with a DZ123 decoder installed.

 

Alan:

I tightly wind the fabric on the brass wheel. One note of caution. You can't run the loco in reverse or the cloth will unwind on the brass wheel. You must turn the brass wheel completely around.

Stay cool and run steam....

 

Here's my two cents worth.....

I have some concern, be it valid or not, that the abrasive wheels will grind down the rails over time. When I soldered my rails together, I would rub off the excess solder above the rails with a bright boy, so I use an abrasive sparingly.

My main method is two Centerline cars in tandum. The fisrt car puts down Goo Gone and the second immediately picks it up. I tried the alcohol but found it evaporated quite quickly where the Goo Gone will not - BUT, there is a disadvantage. The Goo Gone is very sticky and if you don't pick it up it will actually attrach dirt, etc.

Fortunately, I bought the Centerlines before you had to take out a second mortgage on your house to buy one.

By the way, I recently replaced my MT plastic wheels with the Intermountain metal wheels. I am anxious to see if they make a difference.

 

Goo Gone leaves too much gunk on the rail. It creates more problems than it solves.

Iso-propyl alcohol (91% ) is the best choice for cleaning track. It leaves no residue.

Stay cool ands run steam....

 

Alan, You just have to wrap the cover right for the direction of the train, and you don't need to tie it on with anything, its own motion keeps it tight.
Like Bob said, you have to take the roller out and turn it around if you change the train direction or it will unroll.

 

Alan:

Sometimes it will unroll and snag when the roller enters a turnout.

The Centerline car works okay but I still prefer the CMX+ a car for track cleaning. It weighs about 8 ounces and takes two Trainmasters to move it around.

But it does a superb job of cleaning the rails.

Stay cool and run steam....

 

Powersteamguy -

You're right about leaving gunk on the rails. That's why I use a second Centerline car with a dry towel right behind the first car. It picks up the gunk, and it works very well. But two cars in tandum is very expensive. If I had to buy the cars today, I'd find another way.....