I hate cleaning track so I thought I would try the CMX Clean Machine. They aren't cheap, but I've heard good things about them. First let me tell you about the quality. This thing is built like a tank. All brass, metal wheels, and Kadee couplers. CMX cut no corners on this unit. I tried it out today. Filled it with some electrical contact cleaner (non polar solvent), set the drip rate, hooked it up to the SD70ACu and let her go. I must say I was impressed. After a loop around both mainlines it had picked up a fair amount of gunk. I thought my track was clean. Tonight I'm going to finish cleaning the rest. Well, that's a lie. The Clean Machine is going to finish cleaning while I have a coffee and watch it do its thing. I really think I am going to like this car. It's going to save me a lot of pain in the butt track cleaning. My advice if you are thinking about one of these? Do it.
I have the same unit. It really does a fine job. I use my PCM Y6-b to tow it, but I also shove a Bachmann 'dusting' car in front of the Mallet. I figure I don't want to clog up the cloth scrubber on the CMX with dust, so the Bachmann car gets the first lick at the rails, and then the CMX passes over the rails. In my case, I use kerosene. It is at the top of the list published by MRH about four years ago. I have used lacquer thinner per CMX's own instructions and had similar results, and I even tried mineral spirits, again with the same good results.
Joe Fugate's article appeared in the May, 2019 issue. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mrhpub.com/2019-05-may/online/index.html
That is a fantastic article. Thanks for posting it. For years I've used Isopropyl Alcohol to clean track. Never again!! From now on it's WD-40 or WD-40 contact cleaner, which are both in the railroad room. Thanks again!!!!
I too love the cmx car very good. i removed the spring so that its not adding so much pressure (makes the engine pull it easier ) just a hint buy extra cloth lots of it
A fellow at a local club told me that strips of denim from old jeans works great as well. So I'm going to try that before I order more from CMX.
We have one or two club members who are experimenting with wd40 contact cleaner, but our club has used these cars for cleaning for years with dry with no cleaning solution of any kind with excellent success. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
My first cleaning run was with CRC contact cleaner and it worked extremely well. I would imagine that the WD-40 cleaner would be the same. I am going to try low odor kerosene. An article in Model Railroad Hobbyist listed solvents from non-polar to polar and kerosene was top of the list as the most non-polar with the WD-40 contact cleaner a close second. Kerosene will be a much better value than contact cleaner, a gallon should last the rest of my life. Reading articles and watching all kinds of videos online the consensus seems to be that cleaning with a non-polar solvent works the best as it keeps the arcing between the wheels and the track to a minimum. It seems that polar solvents don't do this. the arcing is what causes the black build up on the track. This comes from people much smarter than myself of course. Moose 2013 posted this link to the issue of MRH that has the article - https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mrhpub.com/2019-05-may/online/index.html
i tried that and i had bad results. it left strings here and there.......stretched out a lot to.. started hanging on every little thing... ive been told i can buy the material at a fabrics store and cut my own strips. I have not tried that yet...
No, but there's more to it. I use the clear lamp kerosene you get in 750ml bottles at your camping supplies section. It stinks with your nose in it, but the little bit left on the rails doesn't seem to intrude...for my schnoz. The more-to-it part is that I have perhaps a pint of creosote oil, the real stuff, in a tin. I pour a teaspoon of that onto a rag and drop it into a tin can and leave it under the yard module. When I walk into the train room, I get a whiff of good ol' "Aaaaahhhh......!!", and my guess is that if the kerosene smell is present to any extent, it is either well masked by the sweetness aromatics of the creosote, or it contributes to the effect.
I did, but I'm so stingy and paranoid about 'running out' that I have taken to washing the soiled pads by hand. There's nothing inherently wrong with them except that they get dirty long before they become tattered enough to discard entirely. So, some dish detergent and finger tips massaging them under hot water does the trick. Rinse well, dry outdoors, and Peg's yer aunt.
A fellow who sells kerosene lamps and supplies once explained this to me. There are some to avoid, as they have a waxy content. I have a feeling this type would also be a negative to any track cleaning efforts.