Photo # 1 shows me cutting in the cross hatch saw kerfs, making the Cleaning Pad more aggressive at removing MUNG from the rail heads. (Although this operation should probably be done before mounting the Nail Pins, in my case, because I now have five of these cars, I need to be able rejuvenate used pads every once in a while, so making a Jig for doing so, makes some sense).
Photo # 2 shows the saw kerf cross hatches cut into the Cleaning Pad.
In essence, this completes the job of making the parts needed for making one of my Track Cleaning Cars. However, I still need to add a weight to the Cleaning Pad. I will show this and I will also show a photo of the completed car.
The big reason that I like using these old Athearn Blue Box-Box Cars is the fact that the car weight ends up on the underside of the car. This means that if any wear does occur, it happens to the steel plate and Nail Pins, steel parts which wear very slowly. Also, the old Athearn Blue Box Kits are stupid-simple to build; so, even those of you with little to no experience building a kit, will be successful. Also, there is no brake details on the underside so there is nothing for the Cleaning Pad to get hung up on.
Some of you might feel that these older Athearn Cars, due to a lack of realistic detail, have no place on your railroad. In this case you might be better off buying the CMX car; or, the Centerline Products car. Although I have never attempted to convert a Ready To Run Car for this purpose, it certainly may be possible. In which case I should think many of us here would like to see how you accomplished this.