Snow-plough Track Cleaner

[AJCT]

Picking up a comment from another thread, http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/139204-flangeway-snowploughs-2019-plans/?p=3362915 Post #27, here’s what I did.  I wanted an on-track cleaner as part of my layout is normally inaccessible, so I thought that the converted snow-plough would be ideal for this as the deep side panels would hide a block of track-cleaning rubber.  This low-angle shot shows what it looks like -

 

 

Essentially it just meant taking out the centre axle and fabricating a sort of box-like framework from scrap plastic strip etc to contain a piece of soft rail rubber. This is not fixed to the vehicle in any way and is just pushed along the rails under its own weight.  As you can see, there’s also one of those Noch item 60157 track cleaners mounted on the leading axle, the theory being that this brushes off any loose dust etc before it gets rolled on to the rail head by the first pair of wheels -

 

 

I work in P4 which also meant changing the wheels – the leading axle with a pair of 12mm wagon wheels is fixed and runs in brass top-hat bearings, while the rear axle with the pin-points removed has a pair of 14mm coach wheels running in a fairly basic inside bearing to give some simple compensation.  You can just see the bit of extra lead I glued in to bring the total vehicle weight up to just over 100 grams -

 

 

I use a piece of the soft slightly abrasive cleaning block which used to be available from C&L (other products may be available), cut to size 34mm (L) x 25mm (W) x 13mm (H).  There’s a lot of debate on other fora about the advisability of abrasive cleaners, but as mine simply gets pushed along the rail head there’s little pressure involved.  Even with the pad just sitting loose on the rails, 3 or 4 trips round my Up or Down main lines seems sufficient to pick up quite a lot of dirt.  I also have other cleaning pads made from pieces of hardboard (the Pendon preference, I believe) or Sundeala, but so far I haven’t tried liquids like IPA (other than the odd pint of the “other IPA” after weekly choir practice….).

 

Although anachronistic by some 80+ years, one of my ploughs gets used during the pre-show setup of the East of Scotland 4mm Group’s “Burntisland 1883”, as the track in the station train shed there is normally inaccessible.

 

Hope this is of interest -

 

Alasdair