I have been back and forth with this idea for years and now that leaves will start falling and covering up the tracks any day now I want to build a blower car. The question is what to use for the blower itself? A friend uses a 12v bilge pump blower with duct work to point the wind at the track and a onboard battery to power it and it works very well.
I’m thinking about building something similar.
There are all sorts of 12 volt blowers on Ebay from $20-$30. Would it make sense to buy a 3" or a 4" one or a 4" into a 3". I’m thinking about the smaller one since I’m kicking around concealing the whole deal into a bachmann stock car so it wouldn’t look so crazy going down the track. Of course the business end would need to be cut out and modified.
What have you guys built that works well? Thoughts?
In most cases, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. A good broom, or lawn rake does the job in less time, and then we can spend the time operating the railroad.
If I was to do anything along the lines you are thinking of; I’d probably go more for the rotary brush idea. There is one on the market. It would not only work with leaves, but would probably be more useful with Beechnuts, Acorns, Spruce and Pine cones, Cedar seeds, and even twigs of fair size.
Building a sweeper would not be any more expensive to build, starting with a sturdy “Bottle brush” type brush, and a small DC motor. Powering it with several Gelcells would give needed weight to the car…a flatcar, with a redundant part of a bobber caboose would look fine.
Sean McGilcudy (spelling) is the only one that I know of that has built one Todd
I built my blower many years ago and assisted Sean M with his.
I originally used a boat bilge blower and then used a 3 inch duct pipe elbow to direct the air flow.
Later on I found the blowers at TA ( Travel America truck stops) were just as good and had a speed control built in. I mounted the swivel joint on a toytrain flatcar (got these real cheap at Marshalls).
I built 6 of these for club members and they really like them, cleans out tunnels real fast.
Todd,
If you are serious about building a “BLOWER CAR” you are welcome to chech mine out.
I have considered a brush car but I’m more partial to a blower car for my needs.
Leave it to you Dan to always have your RR goggles and thinking cap on when shopping and travelling.
You wouldn’t happen to have a photo of the TA blower or know where I can get one without taking a road trip? I looked up TA truck stops adn besides their sales flyer didn’t see any fans or blowers.
Thanks
Todd
I’m new to posting here so I’ll do my best to post my first response with pictures included.
I built a track blower a couple of years ago and it works quite well. It is composed of an Accucraft flat car, a 12v. bilge fan connected to the end of an old B&D leaf blower, a 12 NMh battery, and a critter control that provides speed control and on/off capability. I can only run it at half speed or it will blow ballast away.
Here are a few photos:
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/docwatsonnc/TB-4.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/docwatsonnc/TB-11.jpg)
And a final product. I added an old LGB Porter cab to cover the battery and electronics.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/docwatsonnc/TB-10.jpg)
Hopes this helps in some way.
The other Doc - Doc Watson
That’s pretty fancy Doc!
Doc,
With as much nozzle overhang as it appears to have, how can it blow away debris on the curves?
Thanks Jon.
Joe,
You caught it allright. That’s an earlier picture. Since then, I pulled the blower back and mounted it to the next set of stake pockets. Works much better now. I did have to remove the front coupler however. The nice thing about this installation is that there were no permanent modifications made to the flat car,
Doc Watson
That is a really nice setup Don. Nice shade of red.
I have seen yours in action Ron and it works very well. Yours has inspired me to build my own.
I figure the blower car is easier and quicker to run around than getting my backpack leaf blower out.
Todd
I cant use the backpack blower on the railroad because it sends ballast and mulch flying everywhere. I picked up a Ryobi One+ blower on close-out a bunch of years ago for about $20 without batteries. It sucks down a LiIon 18V pack in about 5-10 minutes, but that’s enough to clean the ROW.
The blower car sounds like more fun though! This would be my prototype…
(http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Images_things/mn-snow-equip2.jpg)
Or these…
(http://cdn.secondavenuesagas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/50502519.jpg)
Jon,
That jet engine is for melting ice and snow. The exhaust is HOT!
Now those are cool looking machines.
The one in that first photo looks like a MAD MAX vehicle!
I agree with Joe that they are ice melting machines.
I like the 4 in a row in the foreground of the second photo. They are a bit modern in design for my RR but building something along that design would be cool.
I’m always amazed at cool equipment like these. It just goes to show there is a prototype for everything. Where there is a need there is a way.
Joe Zullo said:
Jon,
That jet engine is for melting ice and snow. The exhaust is HOT!
Yes, I know that. Got a prototype for a cool air blower handy?
You talking about this baby?
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/smcgill_pics/blower.jpg)
Here we have thing 1&2 using it in this video!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAXxFnmbm70[/youtube]
Joe Zullo said:
Jon,
That jet engine is for melting ice and snow. The exhaust is HOT!
AND LOUD!
Thanks for posting Sean it looks like your blower does a good job even with the trouble making Thing 1 and 2 working it.
You have what looks to be a small battery on there. What are you using to power the blower?
I need to update the pic! Did today!
I have a battery running in now.
It use to be track powered, not reliable.
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/smcgill_pics/DSCN1723jpg-1_zps973d03cb.jpg)
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/smcgill_pics/DSCN1726jpg-1_zpsda1d1c4f.jpg)
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/smcgill_pics/DSCN1728jpg-1_zps54e100c9.jpg)
This Batt. I also us to power my rotary snow plow!
Joe Zullo said:
Doc,
With as much nozzle overhang as it appears to have, how can it blow away debris on the curves?
Joe, I’ve seen Doc’s track leaf blower car in action. Even at low fan speeds it’s MORE than capable of blowing away debris…and ballast…and buildings…small trees…children…anything not nailed down.