O and G gauge Track Cleaning Unit
Invertrain Model Railways
Purchased and reviewed by Brian Podmore
This simple system consists of two Perspex levers each held in a black plastic
bracket that require to be screwed underneath a wagon. Each lever has a
weight and a felt pad stuck to its underside that rests on top of the tracks. The
levers apply just enough weight and as the wagon moves along so the felt pad
wipes away and collects accumulated grime.
As the felt pads collect the dirt from the rail they will need replacing and
there is ample additional felt that can be cut down to size to replace the current
pads once they have become soiled. Due to the nature of the levers resting on
the tracks it’s important that the wagon pulls rather than pushes the levers
along otherwise the felt may become caught on point blades and derail the
wagon. There is no need to add cleaning fluids or solvents to the pads, they
work dry.
The cleaning units as fitted to the underside of a fairly heavy wagon.
To complete the arrangement, I chose to use a white metal wagon kit
purchased from Andy Duncan to give weight to the unit and I screwed the
brackets directly to the underneath of the floor and clipped the levers into
place. One of my Panniers pushed the wagon along and it duly performed. It
worked admirably, but only the very edge of the pads touched the rails, which
seemed a little wasteful. I felt that if I lowered the brackets a little, this would
increase the amount of pad touching the rail. So to achieve this I put two
wooden braces across the underfloor, resin glued them in place and then
screwed the brackets onto them. As you can see from the photo, now half the
pad is being used to clean the track indicated by the marks on the pads. I found
that the supplied pads can be carefully detached from the arms turned around
and stuck on again and this will ensure the whole pad is used in cleaning,
problem solved -no wastage. Brilliant!
The wagon ‘kit’ I purchased needed Slaters wheels, (7121), three link
couplings and although it did not include a floor, I provided one from a bit of
5mm resin board and this proved to be a perfect choice.
As mentioned previously, the hinged end of the arrangement needs to be
the leading edge not the trailing edge or the felt pads could catch on point
blades and upturn the wagon. To clarify, the pads need to be pulled not pushed
over the track. If that is done then everything works fine.
There is also more than enough felt pad to last a long time, so how do I rate
it?
- Value for money – a little over priced in my view, but a precision well-made kit that includes fixing screws and replacement felt pads, price £22 from Invertrain, (your choice of wagon is extra).
- Product usage – easy to use, does exactly what it says it will. Especially useful in tunnels and hard to get to parts of your railway.
- Longevity – should last and last
The track cleaning train in operation. Note that the loco is pushing, not pulling.
