Tomix Track Cleaning Car Instructions

[Solana Axton]

Yesthe soft brush works well and it will keep it moist with your desired track cleaner (I always just use plaing old 70-90% isopropyl alcohol). I usually procee the tomix car with a heki tank car I have that just puts lots of cleaner down on the rails on a dragged pad, the with the centerline roller wheel cleaner that really is a good scrubber,mthen the tomix to do the final buffing! Also run it around as the vacuum as well,magazine the stuff it collects. I also have small box car that I put a good strong rare earth magnet under and it finds very interesting slivers of metal now and then that other things don't pickup.

If you have a smart phone or pad you can also try the google translate app and take a picture of the Japanese and then you swipe the line you want translated. It works pretty good to get in context stuff from stuff like this ir import a picture from the web. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked on some tomytec diagrams!

This is the one I have and I got it as one of our club members who has a giant kato unitrak layout in his basement that gets mega dirty used one to great results. I got mine for like $40 lurking ebay for a while.

Hi all, I bought the tomix track car. I'd love to get the alternate front bumper (If available). But what I reallly need is the instruction sheet in english. The translation in the box is pretty good, but I don't want to break it....

I'm actually looking for the opposite solution for my 113 series. Those instructions show a way to swap out the bumper for a truck with a coupler. I can't figure out which trucki is correct for the 113.

If so, that's a Scharfenberg coupler. You should start a new thread about your 113-series if you have questions about that. The photo above is of a Tomix TN Scharfenberg coupler. You can also get Tomix TN knuckle couplers. The two kinds do not work together (as you might guess). You can fit either to the car, but be aware that Tomix TN couplers only couple with like TN couplers! They don't couple with Kato or M-T couplers! So if you fit one, know that you can only pull or push the car with a Tomix locomotive similarly fitted! I don't know of anyone who has fitted their Tomix cleaning car with a TN coupler for just this reason.

If M-T couplers are your thing, you can glue on the generic body-mount variety. If you were a little adventurous, I bet it wouldn't be hard to retrofit an entire M-T truck with truck-mounted coupler, too.

Thats it. I thought it was a dummy ala the front of my Kato series 113. I just like the look, so I figured I would order it when I ordered replacement discs (If I had a part number). I figure I'll push it anyway. I have to look at it, but on the other couplerCL power is the tomix constant lighting power that most tomix controllers have. it puts out a high frequency pulse of power that can't turn motors over but can be picked up by lighting circuits and things like this cleaner car with the proper circuit in them.

yep the sponge goes in that crescent shaped slot and you can see the tiny hole there in the middle where solution will dribble thru to soak the sponge. the brass weight in the cleaning tank is to slow the flow of the cleaning fluid out the hole. as the train runs and jiggles the weight it lets out little burps of fluid.

one other thing you can try is to get a small rare earth magnet and put it on the underside of the cleaning car or another car with a low belly. this will grab up any little stray bits of metal that end up on the layout and sometimes resist being sucked up by the vacuum of the cleaner car.

the little little tank cap on the top is actually the end of the motor for the vacuum/polish wheel. its just the end of the shaft and bearing. i guess the motor was just a tad bit too long to fit totally inside the housing at the height they wanted it.

one warning on using the abrasive discs. some folks think that using really abrasive things like this on the rail heads tends to put a lot of fine scratches in the surface of the rail that can catch and hold more grease and smutz than a nice smooth rail head. Its a very healthy ongoing debate. i tend to shy away from using any abrasives as i find that the use of just isopropanol gets everything off the rail head just fine and then you don't have to worry about fine metal dust all over the place which can muck up motors if it gets into them.

the other cleaner car i love to use in conjunction with these is a roller cleaner. they aint cheap but work well and i got mine about half retail on ebay. i especially like the centerline one as its heavy and you can just cut your own little wipes to rubber band around the roller. i just soak the roller in isopropanol and also have a little heki tank car that disperses cleaning fluid as well i put before the roller car. works wonderfully. for super mucked up rails some use one of the orange oil cleaners as it can really strip off stuff well and will dry slowly with no residue it seems.

Then let's see if I got it right:

CL POWER: is of importance only with tomix controllers (which is not my case): one engine on each track no lights, no contact of every kingd, no nothing. May be I'll switch to interior lighting (coaches) but this is another story

FLUID TANK: wth car running right is ok but (no isopropoanol in Abidjan) what other fluid? Alcohol? Skip it's use fully?

RARE EARTH MAGNET: Availability (here) as above but I think the car could/sholud work properly also in stock trim.

HARD ABRASIVE ITEM: I, too, tend to stay away from them

other alcohol like ethyl alcohol will work but it can go at paint faster than isopropanol will. the stuff you buy in the store at 70% has a denaturant in it or if you have some just straight distilled alcohol (i.e. like ever clear) that you drink that could be used, but be careful around painted stuff. should not hurt the paint on the rail ties unless you use a cloth and rub down there with the ethanol.

The stuff that smells in the rubbing alcohol is usually a denaturant so if you drink it you will throw up fast! That usually points to it being ethanol,Minot isopropanol as usually they don't put denaturant into isopropanol as you will throw it up on its own usually!

Rail cleaner works well, but isopropanol seems to work just as well. Problem with tomix rail cleaner is it has some other nasty organics in it, I can whiff xylene and dichlorobenzine (urinal cakes) in it (sorry to many years in the lab) and not great stuff to inhale and whenever we use it on the layout I think I'm in a public restroom!

For nasty cleaning the Orange oil cleaners (stuff like goo gone that takes off price tag gum) can work wonders. One of our club members has a huge kato unitr layout in a basement he runs infrequently and it gets lots of humidity in the summer and loads of smutz raining down from the floor boards over head. He uses the goo gone in his cleaning train and it really does clean it well. He was where I saw the centerline car do wonders!

The member that uses it never did. It never seemed to be a problem for him or traction tires and such. I've only sided it a couple of times with a cloth and lots of wiping. A pass of isopropanol would not hurt. I think most of the oils in goo gone are pretty volatile and with a little time it should all evaporate.

When one of our members and his wife were leaving to stay in lapan for 2.5 yrs they had a small cup get together to clean out the liquor cabinet and late at night a blue concoction was created and a dab of whipped cream on top (well err cool whip) and a cherry and a piece of code 55 rail as a swizzle stick was dubbed the "tomix rail cleaner"! Will clean the rails and your insides!

wd40 has some cleaning agents (mostly volatile organics) in it as its meant to spray on really gummed up things. unfortunately it leaves behind non volatile oils that will make life tough for your locos!

The track cleaning car by Tomix is the best vacuum cleaner on the market for cleaning your track, even better than the household vacuum cleaner. Not only does it vacuum, but it also can be used to either lightly abrade your track or use a cleaning fluid on the track.

Woodland Scenics TidyTrack Track Cleaning System

Clean your track blindfolded! The Rail Tracker cleaning tool actually follows the track and hugs the rail while you clean, making track maintenance a breeze. Convenient kit includes everything you need to clean and maintain your track. The Rail Tracker cleaning tool is ergonomic in design, featuring a pad holder that locks in place or swivels. Used with the included handle, this self-guiding system makes it easy to clean hard to reach areas, like inside tunnels, around structures and under power lines, etc. Replacement pads available.Works for N, HO and three-rail O scale track.

Part # WOO-TT4550

$33.99

Click to order

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