ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
I was thinking about buying a track cleaning car then I thought maybe I could build one. I cut and bent a car weight into what I thought might work for the cleaner head. I then added some plastic tubes that would slide the head in and out so I could easily change the pads. I also made some cuts in the head for the rubber bands I plan on using to hold the pads onto the head. Then I made a weight that would push the cleaner head down on the track. I drilled 2 holes in the car body and added some more plastic tubes so the head could be held in place. This is what I have so far. Went I buy some cleaning pads I'll give it a try out. I may even add a dispensing unit for cleaning fluid. I'll have to see how this all works first.
I used a similar design using a Bright Boy pad. I beveled the ends to allow it to ride up and over, and mounted it so that it would float up and down on some screws (counterbored the pad to recess the heads). then a post on the bright boy up into the boxcar where weight rests to press it down slightly and keep it in touch with the rails. Don't need much weight, just enough to overcome the friction in the sliding mechanism.
yes, quite a bit. it helps to know what you are doing. If you are a bone-headed brute-force track scrubber, well, almost anything will cause problems. A sporadic and very light bright boy won't hurt a thing.
