Bachmann Track Cleaning Car, How Well Do They Work?

Martin Station Sep 26, 2022

  1. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    I rearranged the layout by taking out three of the sections to make it shorter and fit on the 6 foot table and moved the power section. It still hangs up on the joint at the power section and one on the curve that is no longer on the other table. I believe this is caused by the joints not matching well and also the two new Life-Like engines are lighter than the 22 year old Bachmann. So I will be changing one of the couplers to the old style on the Bachmann. I'll do that tomorrow after I get some rest.
    It may not have this issue if the tracks were fastened to the table. I held them down and the car passed over without issue.

    It's interesting getting back into this LITTLE game.
     
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  2. Martin Station

    Martin Station TrainBoard Member

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    Shortround, I understand. I spent some time, (a lot of time) doing the same thing. I painted a base coat, tacked down my Unitrack after removing some sections, and started with scenery after moving my power supply to a better location and so I feel your pain! For me it seemed like a lot of trial and error with what felt mostly like error! But its turning out pretty well and I've been able to make some really good progress after walking away, getting some rest and returning with some new ideas that seemed to work better. It's been a long time since I've done this.
    The reason I was looking for a track cleaning car was to make track cleaning easier once everything is in place. Your experience is a big help, as well as the help from others here.
    Thanks again,
    Ralph
     
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  3. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    I managed to get one coupler changed. That tinny stuff sure is fun. With the heavier Bachmann it runs much better. But, still a little slow down at joints.
    Enough for today. Goodnight all.
     
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  4. Carl Sowell

    Carl Sowell TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hi Martin,

    please let me throw in my two cents worth. All N scale !

    Here is one I made to run as head end car in my container trains :

    [​IMG]


    You can see the black pad barely showing under the center of the car. Now, I cheated and cut the bottom out of the container, cut a cleaner car up and fit the chassis into he bottom of well car :

    [​IMG]

    Works very well but does add a lot of drag but no issue as I typically run 4 - 5 diesels.

    Be well !
     
  5. Martin Station

    Martin Station TrainBoard Member

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    Carl,
    Thanks! That looks interesting. What brand of car is that? I have a couple of Walthers cars like that made of cast metal, maybe slimming down the pad and adding containers with adjusted weights to get prefered operating weight, hummmm. Right now I'm in harvest season so I won't have a lot of time to explore this until after the beans and corn, but it does give me something to ponder while pulling the grain carts.
    Thanks, Ralph
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2022
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  6. MRLdave

    MRLdave TrainBoard Member

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    I got one of the cleaner cars last week.......as stated it has a lot of drag, but if it didn't drag, would it actually be cleaning? On the flip side, I put it in consist with my other cleaning cars ( an aztec with abrasive roller, a masonite pad car, and a car fitted with 2 Dust Monkey (woodland scenics) pads and put them behind a pair of IM FTs (my plan is to put the cleaning cars behind a pair of DCC MT FTs) and they had no problem moving the train around my test loop (bachman EZ track with 11 inch radius curves on DC). Not sure how it will work when I get the home layout running.......it's largely flat, but the branch line has a 2% grade. So overall, I'm happy with the car and don't plan any changes, at least till I get the layout running and the branchline installed.
     
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