Not an exciting event today. Last week I did a lot of cleaning in the basement so I knew I would need to clean track eventually. But before I cleaned the track I ran my Lionel Atlantic 4-4-2 to see how it did. I ran well. Then I tried my K-Line K4 Pacific with fast mail cars and it ran well. Finally tried my TMCC H9 Consolidation but it lurched and finally stalled on the main. Its usually the rollers on this loco and tender that get that black ring from the center rail of the Atlas track. Scotch brite got them clean and it ran well. I have another loco that has sensitive rollers, an MTH Decapod with ERR upgrade. That tender does not have rollers so it stalls on a long turn out in my engine yard.
So then I decided to run my centerline track cleaner behind the Consolidation around the main a few times. I usually run it with a one inch paint roller dry but jam a piece of scotch pad in front of the roller so it contacts the center rail. Tonight I wrapped a piece of cotton cloth around the roller so I could compare the amount of dirt removed on each run. It was quite effective. I am going to try and do this more often. While I can easily get to most track, there are corners and tunnels that are tough.
