Track cleaning car.....

[LIRR]

Does anyone use the Aztec track cleaning car? How effective is it?
How is the roller kept at an angle?

[superchief]

the Aztec track cleaning car is the best on the market, and you will be surprised what the magnet picks up the first time around and then some. have two on a large layout with a 464 foot mainline they work great!!!!!!!! Gordon

[railnerd]

Does anyone use the Aztec track cleaning car? How effective is it?

In HO scale, the magnets pick up amazing stuff on the club layout I'm on.  The crates roller is essentially a light bright boy.

Our cleaning train consists of an Aztec car, and two "John Allen" masonite draggers.

In N Scale I have used the "roller-only" car— but since my layout is not yet operating, I can only say it did a good job with my UniTrak test loop.

How is the roller kept at an angle?

The "frame" is machined to hold the roller at a very slight angle with respect to the car's frame.

-Dave

[LIRR]

Thanks.....I made a pair of "Masonite draggers" out of hopper cars....I was able to pick up a cratex roller and want to try to mount it in one of my cars....

[DKS]

Not to be contradictory, but I've not found the Aztec track cleaner to be effective, at least for N scale. Indeed, the DIY dragging-masonite-block still seems to be superior to any commercial track cleaner I've tried, and I think I've tried them all (except for the recent Micro-Trains motorized job). Proof, I suppose, that YMMV.

[LIRR]

The Masonite pads work well if I operate often, but I find after a week or two w/o running trains, it needs a better cleaning....

[Rich_S]

I know you asked about the Aztec Track cleaning car, but another option is the Centerline track cleaner.

http://www.centerline-products.com/index.html

I use two of these cars run in tandem. Even dry, it's amazing just how much oxidation they clean off the rail heads. I've also run them with a cleaning solution added to the first car's roller and the second car's roller left dry to soak up the excess cleaning solution. 

 

[LIRR]

I've seen these....I will probably pick one up eventually

[eric220]

I've got Centerline, Aztec, and Atlas/Tomix cars. I've had the best results with the Tomix cars. I was really disappointed with the Aztec. Someone else might be able to extract better performance from it, but I'm not investing any more money in it.