Clean track is essential to a model railroad’s operation. A unique new track-cleaning car from Centerline Products promises to take some of the work out of this essential maintenance operation.

It is the weight and method of cleaning that makes this cleaner unique. The body of the cleaner is a one-piece brass casting which gives the car good tracking ability.

The Model 2 cleaner I tested weighed 6 ounces. The distance between the truck centers is 20’-3". The trucks are supplied with the cleaner and the couplers are mounted Talgo-style which means that the coupler draft boxes are attached to the truck frame. This mounting style allows the couplers to swivel with the trucks, reducing the coupler swing and therefore the chance the cleaner will derail. The car is heavy enough that this is unlikely. But the Talgo-style coupler mounting makes derailment less likely when the cleaner is coupled in front of a long wheelbase steam locomotive.

The most practical use of this cleaner is coupled on the front of an engine. However, there is nothing preventing you from putting it in the middle or at the end of a train. The HO Model Engineering Society (HOMES) in Hamilton, Ontario uses this cleaner on their club layout before each operating session. The cleaner is coupled to the front of a diesel, then run around the entire mainline. This effectively cleans the rails and reduces any chance of engines stalling or balking during the session.

The cleaner comes with X2F couplers as standard equipment. Also included in the package are a couple of MagicCouple 2000 conversion couplers¹. These couplers will mate with both Kadee and X2F couplers and will uncouple magnetically. Removing the 4-40 screws from the trucks allow them to be changed easily. You can then install the truck of your choice. This makes it easy to convert the cleaner to narrow gauge by simply changing trucks².

The heart of this cleaner is a brass roller covered with an absorbent cloth. It sits in a well in the middle of the cleaner. As the car is pushed forward, friction causes the cloth wrapped around the roller to slip over the surface of the track. This slipping between the cloth and the rail is what provides the cleaning action. The cleaner includes 10 extra cloth covers with the N-, HO- and S-scale versions and six with the O-scale version.

The cleaning action can be enhanced by wetting the cloth with a cleaning solvent. The choice of cleaning solvent is important. Water-soluble household cleaners should not be used. Other cleaners available from hardware stores, drugstores and supermarkets can be used with success.

Water-based cleaners tend to leave a residue on the rail, thus requiring more frequent cleaning. Cleaners that do work well are alcohol or varsol. You should be careful that any cleaner you use will not attack plastic. Some experimentation will be needed before you find the right cleaner for your layout. Richard Webster of Centerline has found that mineral spirits or a product called "Goo Gone" works best for him. Both these products can be found in hardware stores.

The Model 1 HO cleaner did not conform to the NMRA standards gauge for outline and as a result tended to hit objects close to the track. The Model 2 cleaner does fit inside the NMRA standards gauge outline and thus should not have any difficulty negotiating bridges or tunnels. The Model 2 cleaner can negotiate a 6-inch radius curve so it will negotiate any curves on your layout even if it's a traction layout.

Centerline Products thinks its product is so unique that it has been patented. U.S. Patent #5060335 applies to the physical product and the principle of a Limited Slip Roller used as a rail cleaning device. This product is a good way of cleaning your track and if you have problems keeping your track clean this might be just the ticket for you, give it a try.  -- Pete Moffett, MMR