Cleaning / DUSTING one's Layout


B

beiland

Well-Known Member
I've built my layout in a handi-house shed sitting 'outdoors' in my carport. And it has a large door at one end that I often leave open when the temps and weather permits. As a result I likely get more dust over the layout than a totally indoor one would experience (but I'm sure even some of these gather good old dust).
https://modelrailroadforums.com/for...-lake-faust-junction.29767/page-9#post-543620

Then of course we generate a lot of dust/small particles during new construction and repairs/modifications. I hadn't really realized how much dust was on my layout until late yesterday when the sun was low and shinning in thru that open door at that one end of the shed,...it was really dusty !

How best to get this dust out of the layout room??
a) Vacuuming....of course vacuuming makes sense, but can you imagine trying to get that pick up hose/brush over all the layout with structures in place, etc
b) Compressed Air Cans .....these small cans of air can be a great way to get dust off of particular areas and structures,...BUT in reality you are just moving the dust around (and maybe onto other adjacent structures), rather than getting it out of the sheds interior.

c) Swiffer Dusters ....I experimented with one of these the other day, and I was impressed with its ability to attract and hold onto a lot of dust particles,..and it was delicate to some of the structures I had sitting there as well as to some rr cars and engine I had sitting on the tracks.

Has anyone else had a positive experience with these swiffer dusters,....or alternate ideas??
 
What I do:

Nothing....most often. I like the dusty look unless it really shows up in photos or if others comment about it.

When something begins to scream at me, I use a long-haired, camel-hair artist's brush. They can be a bit spendy compared to the WalMart packaged brushes, but it's worth not snagging things with the longer, softer, bristles.

For scenery, I would seriously just spritz it down with some slightly soapy water. It will dry, just as it did the first time you sprayed your scenery with a glue solution.

Take rolling stock, locomotives and cars of any kind, outside and use the bristle brush and the moving outside air to clear the rooftops and sills from the dust. Take your time...nobody should ever be in a hurry when handling our rolling stock.

My structures can all be taken up and given the same treatment.
 
I use a small handheld vacuum from Black & Decker, no hose to deal with. But one does need some vertical space above the layout for it to operate correctly, if you have multiple levels as I do. Rolling stock itself is removed periodically and swept/vacuumed outside. I log every cleaning in an inventory/maintenance spreadsheet so I can see if I miss any and when it is advisable to renew the cleaning. I don't do it all at once, but I spread it out over 18 months or so. A large shop-vac is used on the floor about every six months. Due to the size of my layout, I have it divided into 8 roughly equal sections. I schedule the maintenance for each section at the beginning of each quarter, thus doing each section once every two years. This month I started section 4 on the lower level which was previously done in October 2020. I first remove all structures in the area, I don't fix any of them down. I take them one by one to the workbench where I use a semi-stiff paintbrush, toothbrush or a small stiff pointed paintbrush to clean. At the same time I make any needed repairs, usually minimal, or add additional detailing or paint. I currently have about 350 structures, so I do around 35-40 each time. Before vacuuming, I visually inspect the trackage for any loose parts like MU hoses, Kadee springs or brake wheels etc. The main reason for breaking it in sections is that I have over 1300' of track, spread over about 350' of layout frontage. Rolling stock is usually done on an as needed basis; black tank cars need it more often than other cars. I have found that every three years on tank cars and 5-6 years on other freight cars is sufficient. I normally re-inspect cars for coupler height and action, weight, wheel movement and missing parts when I do the cleaning. I have over 800 freight cars so keeping all records is important to me. I have them in original handwritten charts as well as a spreadsheet. I log all of the results of the re-inspection.
My layout is in a dedicated outbuilding in my yard, surrounded in part by cultivated fields, so I avoid opening the door while the farm equipment is operating close by. Not very often and watching wind direction is important. Neighbor to the south makes every effort to not work his large wheat field when prevailing winds might blow dust/chaff in my direction. I control the timing in my hay field on the west and north. House and trees block most debris from the east. My greatest source of dust is from our gravel road about 300' south of the train shed. The road on the east is paved.
I use "Dust Monkeys on all cabooses (18) and I run trains nearly every day, so I don't have to clean track. I do run a track cleaning train over parts about once a year whether needed or not as a preventative measure. I have not used a swiffer duster, as their design is not conducive to use on my layout. I do think that they would work, but not as well as a vacuum.
Sorry about being long-winded.
 
Sounds like you have lots of dust producing surroundings there Wille. And I'm not so sure i would want to try and keep track of that many freight cars?.....I thought I had collected quite a few, ...but not that many !
 
i vacumn my layout twice a year, spring and fall ... i use a small hand held dustbuster to go over the track portions of the layout , i don't do the scenery . it's all it needs, and it functions well ..
 
beiland said:
Sounds like you have lots of dust producing surroundings there Willie
Click to expand...
Yes, but it is mostly controllable as described.
beiland said:
And I'm not so sure i would want to try and keep track of that many freight cars
Click to expand...
That's why I use a train inventory program. Keeps track of everything needed for insurance, plus my maintenance records. It's also part of a switching program that will keep track of where on the layout everything is.
 
Most of us model railroaders are of the male gender ,...and as such likely don't spend that much time doing household dusting.

That's one of thee reasons I sought out a lady here in our park that does a lot of household cleaning,...and then I tried looking for a few decent videos on the subject,..

top 10 cleaning / dusting products

Trying to find the differences between the swiffer materials and the microfibers,..which is better at attracting and containing the dust?
 
I ordered a couple of these today.

https://www.microfiberwholesale.com...ucts/microfiber-flexible-fluffy-duster-2-pack
[image]
Quote:

Best Microfiber Dusters For Cleaning​

A microfiber duster is considered one of the best dusters on the market because microfiber cleans better than other materials. Dust is negatively charged so it is attracted to the positively charged microfiber duster material. With other duster cleaning materials, you’re just pushing dust around, but with a microfiber duster you’re actually lifting and getting rid of the dust. Our microfiber dusters hold on to the dust until it’s washed or rinsed out, and unlike other major brands, you don’t toss our dusters in the trash, you toss them in the washer. You won’t need a new one for hundreds of washings when you care for them correctly.
 
In my pile of "stuff to build" probably in the next century is the idea of a car cleaner. I haven't built this yet but here's the concept as it might relate to this topic.
Basically it's a brass tube (perhaps 1/4") that's formed as an inverted rectangle. One leg is capped and sits on top of the layout, the other leg goes below the bench work and is connected to an air compressor. Holes are filed along the inside of the brass tube.
The thought is to mount this in an accessible place and as trains pass dust would be blown off and then vacuumed away from that area.
Here's a quick rendering......
1665244486650.png

I haven't built this yet since I believe this could easily be bench built and installed anywhere you could drill a hole to pass the brass tube through.

Maybe this might get some juices flowing and help solve someones problem............
 
MOWboss said:
In my pile of "stuff to build" probably in the next century is the idea of a car cleaner. I haven't built this yet but here's the concept as it might relate to this topic.
Basically it's a brass tube (perhaps 1/4") that's formed as an inverted rectangle. One leg is capped and sits on top of the layout, the other leg goes below the bench work and is connected to an air compressor. Holes are filed along the inside of the brass tube.
The thought is to mount this in an accessible place and as trains pass dust would be blown off and then vacuumed away from that area.
Here's a quick rendering......
View attachment 153224
I haven't built this yet since I believe this could easily be bench built and installed anywhere you could drill a hole to pass the brass tube through.

Maybe this might get some juices flowing and help solve someones problem............
Click to expand...
Sometimes I'll try to blow dust off my rolling stock, kind of as a reflex when I see it. Doesn't ever work too well. I usually have to use a small brush then blow off the loosened dust. I would think a stream of air that's strong enough to remove all dust would also damage detail on the car.
 
My collection of dusters at this time,..
DSCF8472.jpg



The small one on the left was found a number of years ago at the estate sale of a painter. Its very soft bristles are ideal for use on detailed steam engines with all of their external piping.

The one of the right is just a HF unit that has a firmness to it, while being gentle. great for initial cleaning of trackway and other open areas. Don't know where i got that long bristle round one, but it is also rather gentle on things.

Of course all of the 'brushes' just move dust around,...its the swiffer's job to attract that dust and get it back outdoors.
DSCF8473.jpg
 
MOWboss said:
In my pile of "stuff to build" probably in the next century is the idea of a car cleaner. I haven't built this yet but here's the concept as it might relate to this topic.
Basically it's a brass tube (perhaps 1/4") that's formed as an inverted rectangle. One leg is capped and sits on top of the layout, the other leg goes below the bench work and is connected to an air compressor. Holes are filed along the inside of the brass tube.
The thought is to mount this in an accessible place and as trains pass dust would be blown off and then vacuumed away from that area.
Here's a quick rendering......
View attachment 153224
I haven't built this yet since I believe this could easily be bench built and installed anywhere you could drill a hole to pass the brass tube through.

Maybe this might get some juices flowing and help solve someones problem............
Click to expand...
If your intending to do something like that, a vacuum would have to be built under the track, and the side air nozzles would need to be at about a 45 degree downward angle.

A brush style system would probably be simpler, but that would also mean the horizontal bar would have to be separate as it would need to be height adjustable, rakes would ideally all be the same height, but if your into switching, hours of fun could be had with your mixed freight.
 
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I made a slight mistake in a posting above. The estate artist brush I pictured was the incorrect one. Here is the correct one I found yesterday,..

DSCF8474.jpg



Brian
 
Smudge617 said:
If your intending to do something like that, a vacuum would have to be built under the track, and the side air nozzles would need to be at about a 45 degree downward angle.

A brush style system would probably be simpler, but that would also mean the horizontal bar would have to be separate as it would need to be height adjustable, rakes would ideally all be the same height, but if your into switching, hours of fun could be had with your mixed freight.
Click to expand...
Haven't used my air compressor for a very long time. Thought it might be an opportunity to put it to work for a change. Air pressure could be regulated and the thought is once the cars were cleaned well a daily pass would keep the dust from collecting and settleing in one area. My initial thought were to put this air duster in an open area and vacuum the area. Like I said it's just an idea in need of some research.........
 
MOWboss said:
Haven't used my air compressor for a very long time. Thought it might be an opportunity to put it to work for a change. Air pressure could be regulated and the thought is once the cars were cleaned well a daily pass would keep the dust from collecting and settleing in one area. My initial thought were to put this air duster in an open area and vacuum the area. Like I said it's just an idea in need of some research.........
Click to expand...

Yeah, I see where your coming from, and I admit, I am playing Devil's Advocate to some degree here.

But the dust you remove from the cars as your currently contemplating, would then simply float around and eventually fall back onto the cars and track, which in effect, defeats what your trying to do, hence the suggestion of the vacuum under the track, dust from the cars would immediately be drawn away from the immediate area.

The other point was how to get the air to circulate around this system, to regulate the air pressure so all three sides receive the same amount of air flow would be difficult to say the least even if you intend each section have it's own supply from the compressor, along with the valves needed to regulate that flow.
 
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Smudge617 said:
Yeah, I see where your coming from, and I admit, I am playing Devil's Advocate to some degree here.

But the dust you remove from the cars as your currently contemplating, would then simply float around and eventually fall back onto the cars and track, which in effect, defeats what your trying to do, hence the suggestion of the vacuum under the track, dust from the cars would immediately be drawn away from the immediate area.

The other point was how to get the air to circulate around this system, to regulate the air pressure so all three sides receive the same amount of air flow would be difficult to say the least even if you intend each section have it's own supply from the compressor, along with the valves needed to regulate that flow.
Click to expand...
We have an air purifier (console type) purchased while living in an apartment. Wife wanted to throw it away when we moved into our house but there was room under the layout for it. I turn it on from time to time and let it run for 4 hours on max. Seems to suck a lot of stuff out of the air, keeps the train room very nice. By the way, I use real dirt and sand for ground cover so it takes care of any loose residue. The fine sand is adhered down with scenic cement though through application it gets into the air as well.

This was not by design but it seems to help keep down the dust.

Dave LASM
 
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