All of these worries about track cleaning could go away if you come over to the dark side.
Yes and you get a new set of worries about other things.
Greg
Ah, the joys of brass track. And that there is why I used stainless.
Dan, I have thought about coming over to the dark side. But I do not have much luck with batteries for some reason. Maybe its my aura that drains them, I dunno.
Greg, your link to Sweeper Car is not working. FYI.
I own the older yellow version and I think it works great. Especially in the spring when I haven’t cleaned track all winter. Spring time comes and parts of the track are under remnants of decaying leaves from the fall (hey you can’t rake 'em all) and the snow has been piled on the layout for months (seems like forever). The track looks pretty nasty. Then, out comes the LGB track cleaner and… presto, lets run some trains.
Now, nothing is perfect- the track cleaning engine can get hung up on a turnout or two, so you might want to watch it while it does the work. But that’s the joy… IT DOES THE WORK!!! Plus, its fun to watch- you know, all those lights and sounds…
-Kevin
BTW- I’ve heard all the horror stories about the track cleaning engine grinding up brass rail. However, after three years of use, I’ve never seen it happen on my layout. Your mileage may vary.
Thanks Mickey, fixed.
Kevin: agree, saves a lot of work. Yes, you need to make sure it does not stall somewhere, although it seems to mostly get stuck on bad trackwork, big rail gaps, turnout issues.
If you do let it sit somewhere for a long time, it can indeed make a divot in the rails, but my experience is that this is rare on a correctly maintained unit.
Often when I see these in use, the cleaning wheel has gotten out of round, and or the “flanges” have been damaged. Many people do not maintain them, and as a result they do not work as well. The “flanges” and the abrasive “tires” are all readily available, but they are not cheap… of course if you spend $400 - $500 for a loco that has consumables and then don’t want to put the money into it to maintain it, yes there’s always sandpaper and manual labor.
Greg
Dan Padova said:
All of these worries about track cleaning could go away if you come over to the dark side.
I am curious why it is always referred to as the 'dark side; The most enlightened thing I did, as far as garden railroading is concerned, was to enable battery operation of my railroad. I still have track power, if needed, but rarely use it. As another on here says, ‘just my opinion of course’. (http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/froehlich/k020.gif)
I am curious why battery guys feel compelled to comment (even saying "I’m not going to say anything is a comment) on threads that have anything to do with track power.
Track power people are normally happy, or they switch. They don’t invade every battery thread with “your batteries can catch on fire”, “you spend too much on chargers”, etc. etc.
Also, EVERYONE has to do a certain amount of cleaning, twigs, branches, pine cones will cause issues for EVERYONE. My “track cleaning” consists of wiping dead ants off the rails with a “Swiffer” once around the track, 5 minutes for about 800 feet of track and continuous running for as long as I want.
It just seems that many (not all) battery power guys have to keep reinforcing to themselves they made the right decision, but have to do it in public.
I’m happy for anyone who has made the right decision for themselves, but I don’t need to hear about battery on a thread that has nothing to do with it.
Greg
Greg, the reason there are not many admonitions about batteries catching fire, or that my batteries spend too much time on chargers (both are fiction, BTW), on threads by battery folks complaining about their choice of power is that there aren’t many (dare I say any) such threads. As a group, us battery folk are quite satisfied about our choice of power. That being said, we just want to encourage others to join us.
Yes, we have to occasionally clean pine needles off part of the track, usually once a year, but that’s about it. We do not have to worry about track cleaners, whether LGB or home made, and I seriously doubt your statement about cleaning 800 ft of track with a Swiffer in five minutes. I couldn’t match triple that time with 300 feet of track. Hyperbole, perhaps?
I wear out long before my 2.2 amp batteries in steamers run dry, but if I don’t, a battery change is effected in less than 30 seconds (I’ve timed it), My diseasals have their batteries mounted permanently inside, but they have six amp batteries. There is no way that I will last that long.
Alan Lott said:
Dan Padova said:
All of these worries about track cleaning could go away if you come over to the dark side.
I am curious why it is always referred to as the 'dark side;
Because the batteries will inevitably fail at the most inopportune moment leaving you “in the dark.”
Steve, the things you siezed on were meant to be examples of negatives of battery, but you missed the MAIN POINT…
That battery people feel compelled to jump onto any track power thread to say something like
“you would not have these issues if you were battery”
or
“i better not say anything” … which of COURSE is telling your intentions…
it’s just like people saying
“I’m sorry to tell you this BUT blah blah blah”…
They are not sorry, they are giving a fake apology and then saying whatever they darn please…
So, back to the main point… I’m curious why battery people feel compelled to “invade” a track powered thread to admonish people that battery is better… when it is not for everyone.
Greg
Greg, when people who use track power complain about the limitations of said power, we are just trying to be helpful.
That there are no helpful hints from track power folks to us battery folks only means that we have no complaints. I did not miss your point at all. You missed mine.
The last time I looked, this was an open forum.
I do hope that this repeat of a repeat doesn’t escalate .
It’s all been talked through before .
Nobody is right , nobody is wrong .
I use both track power and battery power so have no particular axe to grind , but I will say this .
If anyone thinks I am going to butcher a $4000 loco in order to fit batteries , you’ve lost the plot .
I have several such locos , they run quite nicely as they are , thanks .
Mike
Back to brass track cleaning. I modified an Aristocraft track cleaner by adding drywall screen (sandpaper) to the existing Aristo cleaning pad. Seriously, this is all I use since the late 1990s.
I am a “snowbird” and away from my Florida layout for almost 5 months in the summer. I use a DCC engine to pull the track cleaner around. The first pass around after the monsoon summer, I had to manually help a stalled engine maybe 2-3 times. The second time around it went on its own, and after that, I’m running smoothly.
Steve, as much as we see eye to eye many times, I’m calling BS on your rationalization.
No one is complaining about track power and asking to convert to battery.
If I say my car’s gas mileage is below par, it’s not a plea for someone to lecture me on riding the train.
No one is talking about limitations, we WERE talking about a specific product, it digressed a bit when someone suggested a rubbing block, but still about cleaning the track.
No one that started the thread nor participated in the spirit of the question asked to start discussing battery power as an alternative.
Read this honestly and openly: What if someone invaded all the battery threads and suggested track power any time anyone describes any limitation in their battery power implementation. That sounds ridiculous, right? Can you honestly say that is acceptable and reasonable behavior? That an “open forum” equates to discourtesy and “derailments” of topics?
Greg
p.s. I would REALLY like an answer to the above question, If you feel strongly, that’s cool, but man up to what you are REALLY saying. These are yes or no questions.
Steve Featherkile said:
Greg, when people who use track power complain about the limitations of said power, we are just trying to be helpful.
That there are no helpful hints from track power folks to us battery folks only means that we have no complaints. I did not miss your point at all. You missed mine.
The last time I looked, this was an open forum.
So why does Greg feel compelled to make it an issue.
Battery Forever
Oh dear!
This was a case of closed and shut after the fourth post. Mark posed a precise question, he got precise answers and all the rest is basically “filler and boilerplate”. If someone would like to sand the “filler” and polish the “boilerplate”, go straight ahead!
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Oh dear!
This was a case of closed and shut after the fourth post. Mark posed a precise question, he got precise answers and all the rest is basically “filler and boilerplate”. If someone would like to sand the “filler” and polish the “boilerplate”, go straight ahead!
Filler and Boilerplate? I think I’d have other words for it, but people would be shocked that I know such words.
I still think the track cleaning loco is cool… noise-grinding-lights n all.