With the stay-at-home requirements, I’m sure customers’

layouts are getting a workout. The more use they get, the dirtier the wheels and track get, not to mention all the stuff that gets wrapped around the axles and rods.

Don’t forget to talk to your model train customers about servicing their locomotives and rolling stock. This is a perfect time to shoot out an email blast for some of the great track and rolling-stock cleaning products from Woodland Scenics.

To start, let’s look at track cleaning, a dreadful but neces-sary task. As layouts become larger, the task becomes more difficult, especially if access hatches are not available.

The first is their Model Vac-uum. It’s a simple but effective tool to clean up the trackbed and areas that have become worn. The vacuum has enough power to remove light debris like gravel or grass that has come loose without upset-ting the material you want to leave in place. I learned to keep the suction on when pulling away and point the nozzle straight up before turning it off and emptying it.

Track cleaning can be a bear, and using the wrong product can make it worse. If you remember one thing for your customers, it’s this: never use steel wool! The tracks may look great, but there will be bits of the steel wool everywhere. When you run locomotives, the magnets in the motors attract the bits and foul them. Please, never do this.

We’ll look at two products for track cleaning: Tidy Tracks Rail Tracker for heavy-duty cleaning, and the Dust Monkeys for daily maintenance. The Rail Tracker has both wand and pad mounts that accept var-ious pads that span HO and N Scale tracks.

The pad mount can be used without the wand on easy-to-reach places. The most abrasive pads have two sides. One side has grooves to follow HO- or N Scale-width tracks, and the other side is flat for use on dif-ferent gauges, crossovers and the like. On my layout, I have a mixture of older brass rail and nickel type. The brass gets dirty fairly quickly and needs frequent cleaning.

The Rail Tracker offers a three-step process to remove dirt and grime. First, wipe with the white felt pads and the cleaning solution to remove oil and grime. Then, use the dark gray pads for rough cleaning and the light gray pads to polish the rails. Each was pressed onto the pad applicator wand. I did about 15 passes with each pad, and the track brightened with each pass.

I used the softest pads and cleaning solution for the final cleaning to remove fine debris left behind from the more abrasive pads.

The difference is dramatic and well worth the effort. After cleaning the track, my trains enjoyed smooth running and no more dead spots. The attachable wand helps with getting between structures and other hard-to-reach places. Within the packaging for the Rail Tracker, Woodland sup-plied storage pockets for additional pads.

To clean your tracks of light debris, Woodland has a line called Dust Monkeys. These are track wipes that hang on the axles of your rolling stock, hanging like monkeys from a branch. With the Dust Monkeys you can maintain your tracks while you run your trains.

The Dust Monkeys clip on in seconds to the axle of your rolling stock. They do not inhibit rolling and are unnoticeable, and they

TRACK CLEANING BASICS

The Roto Wheel Cleaner keeps rolling stock wheels clean, as long as it fits on the pads.

Dennis Andreas

RAILROAD REPORT

Running model trains gen-erates dirt and grime. Tidy Track Rail Tracker and the Dust Monkeys products are ideal for keeping brass railroad tracks clean for best performance.

The Rail Tracker pads remove material from the track, leaving them clean and shiny.

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Dust Monkey pads ride behind the wheels, cleaning tracks as they go.

Spot clean and shine with the different pads and cleaning solution.

increase the time between major cleanings. When the Dust Monkeys get soiled, just pop on a new set. Add a few to the rolling stock to each of your loops. Dust Monkeys are available in HO and N gauge.

To clean locos and rolling stock, Woodland has the Tidy Tracks Roto Wheel Cleaner available in N and HO scale. This is the easiest way to clean the wheels: no mess, no fuss. If you can track a train and connect to a power pack, you can clean your wheels. With each Roto Wheel Cleaner, you get the Roto Track, three sets of cleaning pads and a jumper cable to power it. The pads are replace-able and have two grades for coarse and fine cleaning.

To operate it, simply attach the cleaning pad and connect it to your track or power pack directly. Operate your power pack in analog or DC mode, so there’s no need for a DCC address for ease of use. However, it can be used in DCC mode as long as you select the address. Place the locomotive on the Roto Track and slowly

increase the power. The loco will butt up against one side, and then you can pull the loco back and forth across the cleaning track so you don’t just use one area. All it takes is 10 to 15 seconds of run time. Clean rolling stock the same way. Just run it back and forth 10 to 15 times.

As the pads get dirty, you can peel them up and move the dirty side to the outside and clean some more. Additional pads are available from Woodland Scenics.

One issue I found is when the DCC electron-ics are located within the tender and the loco and

tender will not fit on to the Roto Clean. On some locos, if the tender is not energized, the loco’s wheels will not operate. That’s something to ask customers about during the sales process.

Keeping a layout in top running condition requires a little TLC, and Woodland Scenics has the products rail modelers can use to keep their layouts in tip-top shape. I hope all are safe; there is light at the end of this tunnel. HM

The Model Vacuum cleans dust and scenic materials that may have come loose over time. It can suck up loose grass or rock without disturbing what’s left.