The 4" long frame of the car is made of epoxy coated, die-cast zinc and with the trucks weighs approximately 4 ounces. The Model D30 series comes in four models: D30, which is equipped with Mantua freight trucks with X2F couplers and also includes McHenry conversion couplers; D32, which comes with Kadee freight trucks and Kadee No. 5 frame mounted couplers; D34, which is equipped with Talgo style freight trucks with European Märklin type couplers; and D36, which has 4-wheel HO bogie trucks with couplers and also includes British OO scale couplers.

Our test sample was the D30. The car was ready to run out of the box. All we needed to do was set it on the track, wrap a strip of cloth Handi-Wipe around the roller, put a few drops of cleaning fluid on the cloth and place the roller inside the opening in the frame. Goo Gone, a citrus cleaner recommended by Centerline was used as the cleaner. If the cleaning car is only to be operated in one direction, the cloth pad does not need to be secured to the roller. However, if the car is to be run in both directions a thread needs to be tied around the pad to keep it from unrolling. This is covered in the instructions.

The cleaning car was pulled around the layout with a locomotive, and almost immediately two parallel black dirt stripes appeared on the pad where it came in contact with the rails. The car did an excellent job cleaning the rails and the small amount of cleaner left on the rails helped to clean the wheels of the cars following behind. It ran smoothly and didn’t snag on anything. The car’s small size allows it to handle curves down to a 10" radius. Its standard freight car width keeps it from hitting switchstands and other nearby objects, and allows the car to be hidden beneath a 30-foot removable carbody. This is a fine working car that would make an excellent addition to any HO scale maintenance-of-way fleet. It certainly beats cleaning the rails by hand using a rag or abrasive block.