[harkins77]

Hi guys since I have been off on the sick I have not had much chance to run my locos due to the inclement weather and the pain I have been in (thanks to you all for the support).

The one thing I found when I went into the shed was that the track has got grim,dirt and the locos run very poorly on dcc. I am limited as to how far I can reach on my layout and was wondering if there is anything I can run on my layout that would clean the track but also not have any problems with the dcc system.

I have tried making a wagon with some kind of pad underneath it to clean the track in the past and it hasn't worked mainly due to the fact that I cannot get a lot of weight into the wagon to be able to put any pressure on the rails to make any difference.

I know the relco/gaugemaster high frequency track cleaners won't work on dcc so is there anything else I can do or is it a case of getting someone to rig up some pulleys so I can be lifted over the inaccessable areas of the track (i.e. Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible).

 

[Matthew Peddlesden]

I bought the HO/OO guage CMX Clean Machine from DCC Supplies and have found it to be absolutely superb.

I'd recommend giving one of the N gauge variants a shot.

Matt.

 

[goedel]

Hello Harkins,

There is also the Kato 'vacuum cleaner' wagon and spinning cleaning wheel wagon, which being Japanese must work perfectly or someone in QA would have committed suicide? It is also possible to fit locomotive decoders to these wagons and control the cleaning wheel speed or suction with the motor output!

I would also recommend using a cleaning agent in addition to a cloth around a block of wood under a wagon instead of just relying on abrasion which will create a 'patina' (like on expensive cutlery when you use it and the scratches are rebranded as a selling point!) on the rail surface which will trap more dirt.

It is possible to build up an entire train of cleaning wagons whose combined power must be enough for anything!

e.g. on the PPB each wagon in the train has a cleaning function:

 

[poliss]

Did you mean the Tomix vacuum cleaner wagon goedel?

 

[goedel]

QUOTE Did you mean the Tomix vacuum cleaner wagon goedel?
Whoops!

Yes, that is the one!

It\'s available from Japan for only £20 plus postage according to ebay! Cleaning discs are changeable and comes with 1x vacuum fan disc, 3x dry-type disc and 3x moist-type disc (vacuum fan disc is attached to the car). So to operate cleaning and sucking at same time one would need two of them, but would be more effective?

Anyway, the picture I embedded above doesn't allow it, so just follow this link to see what I mean about a whole cleaning train!

http://www.ppb-modellbahn.ch/images/rollma...inigungszug.jpg (Follow the link, if you get an error message then just press ENTER with cursor at the end of the web address in the address bar and it will appear. The lengths some people go to stop linking of their website's information is bizarre, like disabling right click etc.; - it's all pointless and there is always a simple way around...whether getting the image address from the html source code (go to Page > View Source in IE7) or just copying the image from your Temporary Internet Files directory (and stupid microsoft try to hide this folder too! Why?!) Just navigate to here...

C:\Documents and Settings\######\Local Settings

where ##### is your user/computer name and add "\Temporary Internet Files" to the address and behold the contents of your internet cache including all those images people don't want you to save a copy of for some reason!

If you don't want people to have a copy of your file then don't put it on the internet!! Simple.

 

[poliss]

Thanks for the tip about viewing the site. Might come in handy for other websites.

 

[harkins77]

So just out of curiosity then will that tomix and others with the same design will they work on a dcc track as I am seriusly tempted at that price.

 

[poliss]

You might have to pay more for the one direct from Japan as it's over the £18.00 customs limit. If you buy from the Japanese seller I'm thinking of it's worth adding a note to him not to mark it on the customs label as a 'gift'. That could get you, as the importer, into trouble.
Dapol also sell them for £38.00. They say that it can be converted to dcc with a concersion board which they also sell.
http://www.dapol.co.uk/index.php?page=shop...t&Itemid=59

 

[Brian Considine]

That seems an excellent bit of kit & much cheaper than the Lux one - don't suppose it's available in HO though ?

 

[Edwin]

QUOTE (harkins77 @ 27 Mar 2008, 19:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So just out of curiosity then will that tomix and others with the same design will they work on a dcc track as I am seriusly tempted at that price.

The instructions say it should not be used with DCC but I tried it and it seemed to work fine, though obviously no control over motor speed. There is a bridge rectifier on the circuit board so the motor works on AC (but I presume its main purpose is to ensure it runs the same way on DC whatever the polarity).

It is quite a bit higher than other British N gauge stock so may not be able to go under bridges or tunnels where it is most needed.

I fitted a cheap decoder (Digitrax DZ123) by modifying the PCB and removing part of the interior weight to put the decoder at the end of the vehicle nearest the motor. I also got rid of the selector switch on the roof, which shaves a mm or so off the height. Since then I found out about the adaptor board which uses a similar decoder position, but needs a 6-pin decoder which tend to be the more sophisticated and costly models.

Incidentally there is also an Atlas track cleaner, which I haven't seen in the flesh but appears to be the same item with different colour and branding. No UK stockists though as far as I know.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi Gõedel,

That Tomix is certainly a very impressive bit of kit. I bought the N Gauge CMX Clean Machine from DCC Supplies and, when used with the fluid cleaner, have found it to be very good. This looks to raise the bar height though and is certainly worthy of further investigation.

Just out of interest, how much taller than standard N gauge height is it ???

Regards,

Expat.

 

[Edwin]

QUOTE (Expat @ 28 Mar 2008, 06:24) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Just out of interest, how much taller than standard N gauge height is it ???

I just knew somebody would ask that. I think it was pretty much exact scale OHLE height which would make it around 32mm but I'll check it when I'm back at home and post again if this is wrong, unless someone else beats me to it. That's a total height not an excess over standard!

 

[harkins77]

Right ok guys I have taken the plunge and bought myself one of the tomix variants which is the atlas maintenance of way track cleaning wagon ( it is basically the same as the Tomix one apart from it being orange in colour).

It looks exactly the same but what I want to know is that the dcc conversion plate they sell for around £9.00 is that plate going to fit the cleaner itself seeing as on the bottom of the cleaner unit it has Atlas/Tomix written on the bottom so it is a case of the 2 units are basically the same there for the plug in chip board will also fit the Atlas unit as it does on the tomix unit.

Any help is always welcome.

 

[goedel]

QUOTE (harkins77 @ 8 May 2008, 18:16) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Right ok guys I have taken the plunge and bought myself one of the tomix variants which is the atlas maintenance of way track cleaning wagon ( it is basically the same as the Tomix one apart from it being orange in colour).

It looks exactly the same but what I want to know is that the dcc conversion plate they sell for around £9.00 is that plate going to fit the cleaner itself seeing as on the bottom of the cleaner unit it has Atlas/Tomix written on the bottom so it is a case of the 2 units are basically the same there for the plug in chip board will also fit the Atlas unit as it does on the tomix unit.

Any help is always welcome.
I think it will be exactly the same but for the colour of the bodyshell / name on the side. I guess Americans want to buy nominally American 'Atlas' and Europeans prefer nominally Japanese 'Kato' but I wonder where it's actually made? China!? Perhaps take the cover off and check to see it is looks like it is set up for a 'circuit board swap' before ordering?

I'm sure I've seen a review of somone installing a decoder with wires and not using a conversion plate but I can't think where! Anyway a full blown locomotive decoder (accessory decoders only provide small outputs for lights) would be far more expensive than £9 so the conversion plate sounds a good idea to me!

Do let us know how you get on with it!

 

[poliss]

Here's the link for converting the Atlas Track Cleaner to DCC. http://mymrq.com/myMRQ/Aspfiles/DetailPage...0&CatCode=Q

 

[goedel]

QUOTE (poliss @ 8 May 2008, 23:09) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Here's the link for converting the Atlas Track Cleaner to DCC. http://mymrq.com/myMRQ/Aspfiles/DetailPage...0&CatCode=Q
That's highly useful Poliss, and shows clearly that the PCB is not hard-wired in (like a bomb in an action film!) so it will just be job of unplug, plug and then play with the new DCC board.

 

[harkins77]

Thanks for that poliss I had seen that link before and it confused me a little. I have seen the board that is on the dapol site in which there is no need to do all that wiring as when the 6 pin chip is plugged into the board all the wiring of it will effectivly be done for me.

The only thing I have been told is that if I go for the dapol option I am going to have to bend the pins on the chip to a 90 degree angle so that it won't fowl the body when put back together. The way of being able to bend the pins though is my main concern as I don't want to break the chip or splay the pins out and risk damaging the chip before i even get the unit put back together.

 

[poliss]

If you're going the Dapol way you could email them and ask how they do it without breaking the pins.
For those who haven't seen it, the Dapol method of conversion is here http://www.dapol.co.uk/index.php?option=co...0&Itemid=32

 

[harkins77]

I must admit it is a shame they did't have all the parts when they released the how to do it instructions as it would have been helpfull for them to explain how to bend the pins. But yes poliss you are right and I am going to phone Dapol on Monday as I phoned today and they said Dave the man in the know is off now until then as he worked last weekend.

 

[Edwin]

I haven't seen these Dapol instructions before, hopefully they will post a new set when they get a DCC ready board to photograph as using the old one is a bit confusing. However with the cost of the extra board and the hassle/risk of bending the pins, if I had to do another one I'd be tempted just to forget the special board and just hard-wire the decoder.