# Cleaning railroad of blossoms and twigs?



## noela (May 22, 2008)

I'm not sure if this is where this question should be, and if I have erred, please tell me where to go.
My problem is that my layout is in the woods (only place the CFO would let me build it). I have just had a good windstorm and the layout is covered with blossoms and twigs. I could get away with using my backpack gas powered blower right now, but as this is going to be an ongoing thing, I am looking for alternatives to the high volume of the gas powered blower. The reason I could get away with that blower now is that I haven't ballasted yet, once I do that, my blower will blow that stuff away also. I have considered an electric blower, or preferably a battery powered unit.
I am looking for suggestions on how to deal with this.
My layout is effectively a 2 1/2' X 760' deck, and there is over 1900 feet of track along with 35 switches, the deck is completely elevated, and the track work is flat, making the deck 6" off the ground in some areas and 5' off the ground in others. I want to be able to get the layout cleaned as quickly as possible so I can operate.
Thank you.


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

make a battery (or steam) power car with a big spinning brush on the front at an angle, and spin it against the rails at a decient high speed to fling the branches/twigs off (you can add a scrub pad to the back to get the dirt also). Put some weight into it, paint it grey and put lots of MOW signs on the side of it. Add weight to it so it doesn't derail and push it around (or add this onto an existing engine) 

Just a fun idea that might work


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Lay groundcovers (tarp, weed cloth, etc.) over your track when not in use. When you want to run, pick it up as you shake it off. When you're done, put it back.

For a while, I had a net suspended horizontally about 3 feet above ground under my tree to catch the dates that fall.


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## barnmichael (Jan 2, 2008)

Get a shop-vac that comes apart to make a blower. Much less volume than the gas leaf blower. Just don't put the pointy tube on the end. 
I do like the spinning brush idea, though. I'd like to see some pics of one of those.


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## bottino (Feb 7, 2008)

My layout is in the woods. BIG beach, oak, maple, poplar, and sweet gum trees everywhere. Right now especially they are dropping a lot of stuff. I finally bought a cordless leaf blower from Black and Decker. Before I run trains, on one of my 300 ft loops, I walk around and just blow the small stuff off the tracks. I pick off anything that won't blow away, but mostly the blower does the job just fine. This has really helped me get up and running.
Paul


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

1s class members can look in classifieds, in accessories; one member has a kit for the motorised brush. 
I happened to see it the other day. I'm not connected with it in any way. 

John


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Thank you so much for your quick and varied replies.
I took my back pack out to do the layout, and it did the job, but had there been ballast, it probably would have moved that too. At least now I can run track and battery power.
I am going to look into the B&D unit mentioned. I've seen pix of the sweeper car and it looks great, but the cost is a bit high for my present budget.
Regarding the Black & Decker unit, is it so powerful that it moves ballast also?
Thank you again.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I live in the woods also!!! I spend my life dealing with all those droppings.

Like Paul, I have also purchased several B&D LeafHogs. They are electric cord powered. Rated at 240 MPH blowing. That must be a "Cat 5".

I rake, I blow several times from fall to spring, however by this time of year it "Sucks".

By that I mean, the Leaf Hog is reversable by changing the tubular pipes. In the spring when the last leaves finally fall off, namely the oak leaves, I suck them up, chew them, and it blows a mini flake snow storm of mini mulch. It sucks up twigs, leaves, acorns, butter nuts, and other light weight things. It has a METAL impeller, so it really chews the stuff up. I have truly ruined leaf blowers with plastic impellers. I even shot a rock through the side of the blower.

Strangely enough, this B&D is well designed. It has a variable speed control so you can adjust the speed and suction. Despite the things that it sucks up, it does not seem to suck up rocks and gravel. Someone really figured out the design such that the diameter of the tube entrance and balance the suction force to only pick-up lightweight items. This is the only rational I can figure as to why it doesn't pick-up rocks and gravel. There are exception of course. Some stuff gets tangled together in grasses and dead weed or twigs. But for the most part it works prefectly. You can use the attached bag to collect the debris, but I would spend my life empting it.

It is just a matter of vacuum cleaning your layout. Please remove your people and accessories before the tornado suchs them to OZ.










PS: Nothing works well with wet leaves and debris.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Richard Weatherby on 29 Apr 2010 07:57 PM 


PS: Nothing works well with wet leaves and debris.



Removable tarp does.


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

WOW!
Look at that setting. I thought my layout was in the woods, but it doesn't compare to that surrounding, and the trestles look great.
I am leaning towards the B&D cordless blower because I would have to run a 200' extension cord to get to parts of my layout. I'll probably opt for an additional battery, because it took me 35 minutes using my back-pack blower last night, and I figure, if I can stay ahead of it, 20 minutes should be fine. I will report back on it.
On the bright side, my power supply items are going to be here today (I hope). I already have the main supplies, but now I have to wire from them. Currently, my entire layout is fed by one 18 gauge speaker wire, which I did for test purposes. Even worse, I am using a Lionel Thomas the train power pak, and it does the job with smaller engines, although not enough oomph for the big 2 and 3 motor engines.
Thank you again for all of your thoughts, I am finding out that I have so many questions, and so little experience. 
Have a great weekend.


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## jmill24 (Jan 11, 2008)

I use the Rail-Broom. For the last 4 years this little device has kept my RR clear, works great................Jim

http://cgi.ebay.com/RAIL-BROOM-KIT-...3cac3c70f1


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Be careful with ballasting your track laid on the elevated decking. A friend did on his and rotted out all the decking as it held in all the moisture. Its now all trex and no ballast.


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

I use a brush; you could use a broom (the narrow kind with nylon fibers); a bit primitive but works


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I use a cordless blower and sometimes a broom. Am thinking about one of those rail-brooms


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 29 Apr 2010 03:29 PM 
1s class members can look in classifieds, in accessories; one member has a kit for the motorised brush. 
I happened to see it the other day. I'm not connected with it in any way. 

John 

Hi John,

Thanks for mentioning the classifieds. I've sent an email about it.

Jerry


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## hawkeye2 (Jan 6, 2008)

"1s class members can look in classifieds"

Actually all members can see the clasifieds.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks Hawkeye, 
Better yet, that all can see. I didn't know. 
John


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

See more on my site:

*http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mai...inmenu-217* 


Regards, Greg


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Thank you for the insight.
I do have a concern now, although I think I may have prepared for it, but perhaps I haven't.
I built my freight yard three years ago, all pressure treated wood, with the top decking being P/T 5/4's running perpendicular to the track. I ballasted the track at that time. Over the course of the next three years, ballast kept disappearing through the cracks in the wood, so, this year I cleaned it all up, laid down landscape cloth, and will be re-ballasting. The reason for the landscape cloth is to prevent the stones from falling through. When I had pulled up the track and cleaned up the ballast, there was no evident rotting of the wood. I am hoping that this will still be the case with my new system. The water will pass through the landscape cloth and the decking. We have had some heavy rains, and there is no evidence of ponding on the surface of the layout. I have chosen to go with ballast because the temperature range is such that expansion and contraction make for some problems if I try to nail or screw down the track. Any further thoughts or comments you may have are appreciated.
Thank you again.

Noel


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I would think that your foundation would last a long time, if I am understanding it is elevated. Having adequate drainage is the key, as it's clear you already understand. Nothing lasts forever, some people put PT wood in the ground and it lasts for years, others do the same in a different area and it rots right away. 

Do you have a picture? 

Regards, Greg


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

file:///Users/noelarnold/Desktop/trainpix040510/IMG_0124.JPG


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

How do I post a picture? I have a jpg. that I can send to the forum, but haven't figured out how to get it here. 
Thank you. 

Noel


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Just found out, unless you're a first class member, you can't post pix. 
I will be setting up my blog this coming week, and then there will be photos. 

Noel


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 30 Apr 2010 08:15 AM 





See more on my site:

*http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mai...inmenu-217* 


Regards, Greg 







Hi Greg,

Great write up. You answered the questions I had about it so I went ahead and ordered one.

Thanks for making the info available.

Jerry


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, I love the little gadget, and Bill is a great guy. I run it after new ballasting too. 

Regards, Greg


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

To post pictures, you need access to some web server that allows links. If none other, the 1st class membership is a good deal. Even if you have another, the 1st class membership is a good deal.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By noela on 30 Apr 2010 02:34 PM 
Just found out, unless you're a first class member, you can't post pix. 
I will be setting up my blog this coming week, and then there will be photos. 

Noel Noel

The above is not true any registered member can post pictures in their replies, however you must have them located on an Internet server so they are accessible across the Internet (e.g. Photobucket, or maybe your ISP provided server space). The address that you attempted to use is not a Internet URL, which is why it didn't work.

"The file URL scheme is used to designate files accessible on a particular host computer. This scheme, unlike most other URL schemes, does not designate a resource that is universally accessible over the Internet." (RFC 1738)


Once you get the image file uploaded to a server, then use the respective HTML element tags depicted in the following image.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

To attach the track, yet allow it to expand and contract remove the screws under the ties. If removing all the screws is a concern, then remove them from every other one foot strip of ties. This will allow the track to be attached to the substrate at the detached ties. This will allow the rails to slide through the ties where the screws have been removed. The screwed-on tie strips will slide with the rails. Minimal attachment to substrate should occur on curved track or loops.


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 30 Apr 2010 03:52 PM 
Yeah, I love the little gadget, and Bill is a great guy. I run it after new ballasting too. 

Regards, Greg 

The timing of this topic was perfect for me. This is the time of year when I get all sorts of stuff falling on my layout from the trees above. I have been trying to build a "blower car" but I finally concluded that the blower would not have enough power to get rid of the little twigs that fall from the trees. 
Yesterday I was weed eating and blew a lot of grass onto the rails. I was thinking it would have been handy if I had the Rail Broom to remove them. That (plus this topic) pushed me over the edge to place the order.


I would suspect that the Rail Broom will not be able to get rid of the acorns that fall on the tracks in the fall but nothing is ever perfect.

It sounds like the Rail Broom is the best solution available.

Jerry


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Jerry, 
We sent a tornado your way, didn't that help? 
Seriously I hope you and family/friends are ok today. 
When that storm passed through here, we just got 40 -60 mph winds, most of which blew over me! My home is in a bowl... 

I was happy to remind folks of the classifieds, I'm glad it helped you. 

John


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 01 May 2010 07:19 AM 
Jerry, 
We sent a tornado your way, didn't that help? 
Seriously I hope you and family/friends are ok today. 
When that storm passed through here, we just got 40 -60 mph winds, most of which blew over me! My home is in a bowl... 

I was happy to remind folks of the classifieds, I'm glad it helped you. 

John 

Hi John,

The main effect of the storm(s) was to turn our driveway into a G Scale Grand Canyon (again).

I slept in the camper to enjoy the storm (yeah it is a dumb idea but sometimes I do dumb things). I think the news said that Arkansas had 20 tornadoes yesterday. It is not well known but the last I heard, Arkansas has the highest number of deaths per capita from tornadoes in the country. Cabot (the nearest large town) was virtually wiped out by a tornado years ago.

The biggest fish I ever caught (8 lb Large Mouth Bass) was caught between storms with tornado warnings all around. That still annoys a friend who refused to go because of the weather (he is a "fisherman" - I just play with boats).

Unfortunately there were some Arkansans that were killed by a tornado yesterday.

Jerry


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

No thanks to the idea of a tornado. We've only had a couple that I can remember in the last 30 years, but one had a devastating effect on an Elementary school.
After much research and suggestions from this forum, we have opted for a two stage course of action.
The first stage was getting a B&D cordless blower, and, even though it doesn't have the "blow" of my backpack blower, it actually worked better because I was also able to work the track with a small brush at the same time, something I couldn't do with the big blower.
The second stage is coming, I have ordered one of the RailSweepers from Bill, and am currently trying to figure out how I will be able to make a completely utilitarian version of it, won't be to concerned about how it looks, but very concerned that it does its job. I can always dress it up later. My preference on this project will be that it is self contained and powered. I have lots of extra parts, etc. so creating this shouldn't be a problem.
If any of you out there have any ideas on this project and how to make it better, please let me know.


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Hey Noel, Because you couldnt get your picture to post. I posted the picture for you that you sent me. hope thats ok








Noels got a nice RR.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

This would make a fun slot car track too.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

The pond skimmer at the Botanic today was totally plugged with pink petals. 

Opening next Saturday.


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Hi Noel,

That is one heck of a layout!!! Perhaps sometime you will want to post some photos of its construction (if you have not already).

I wanted to thank you for bringing up this topic. It was very timely for me and probably for a lot of others.

Jerry


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Thank you, and thank you to Nick for posting it.
I have a whole series of photos from the beginning, when it was pricker bushes and live and dead trees. At the time I started it the no-seeums were terrible, now they're just unbearable. The layout is actually larger than I wanted because I did not want to take down live trees. Now that it's done (except for the town) the trees are getting closer to the layout as they grow. Hopefully they don't take over before I die.
The picture that you see was taken in early April, this past Friday, April 30th, I put down the last piece of track, and today I ran a full test on all of the trackage. No derailments anywhere. The next thing I am going to do, now that the track has found itself (it floats) is to level it in both applicable planes, and move it around to make sure that the minimums are still there, and then ballast. Right now it looks like a work in progress, which it is, but as soon as it gets to the point where it is presentable, you will be able to visit it. Personally, I run a mix of Battery and Track Power, but eventually my motive power will be all battery. The layout does have track power, controlled by 3 Aristo-Craft remote units, 1 for each of the mains, and one for the yard. Minimum radius on the mains is 10' and sidings and the yard it is 5'. Maximum grade is .5%. All sidings, if following standard east-west operation, have to backed into, helping to prevent jumping the points by trains that are running. Operating sessions, with battery power, can utilize up to 3 trains on a loop, SAFELY, as it takes almost 8 minutes to do one loop at a scale 35 mph.
Scenery will be a challenge, but that is one of the things that is in the future, and I hope to glean as much information about how to do that, as I have many other things I have learned from this forum.
I am hoping to do a You Tube thing this week or next, and as soon as I do, I will let you know.
Needless to say, as always, if anybody has any ideas and/or suggestions about improving this layout, or anything else I have discussed here, please let me know.

Noel


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Jerry McColgan on 30 Apr 2010 03:45 PM 
Posted By Greg Elmassian on 30 Apr 2010 08:15 AM 





See more on my site:

*http://www.elmassian.com/trains-mai...inmenu-217* 


Regards, Greg 







Hi Greg,

Great write up. You answered the questions I had about it so I went ahead and ordered one.

Thanks for making the info available.

Jerry


I finally got around to installing the Rail Broom (aside from batteries and testing). I mounted it on the front of a LGB D&RGW Gondola:












The installation was really pretty easy.

Jerry


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## Matt Vogt (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great, Jerry! Keep us posted to how well you like it if you don't mind.

Take care,
Matt


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Agreed. Looks great.
I have my unit and I'm just waiting for the battery pack. I've temporarily mounted it on a flat car, but hopefully, I will be building a self contained powered unit, that will allow me to operate it using battery power and R/C. In the meantime, I will push it around with a battery powered loco.


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Noel, 

Beautiful trackwork there. Since it's all elevated it would be a perfect candidate to be roofed over with the frame attached right to the benchwork. Some considerable work for sure but a hefty angled frame of PT 2x4s covered with a replaceable fabric could be placed each Spring and moved to the RR's surface for the Winter to keep accumulation off. Even a double or triple layer of landscape fabric up there would work I betcha. The occasional hole from a heavy branch could be easily and cheaply patched during the running season. While it wouldn't stop wind blown debris from the sides I've found that on my own RR most of the debris just falls from above and I'm in a windy area here on the Oregon coast.


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Matt Vogt on 17 May 2010 07:10 PM 
Looks great, Jerry! Keep us posted to how well you like it if you don't mind.

Take care,
Matt 



Hi Matt,

When the Rail Broom arrived I was hoping to get it operational without spending much more money on it. I used a LGB Gondola that a previous owner had customized with body mounted Kadee couplers which I could not use but I managed to make it usable with some LGB trucks and a LGB Knuckle Coupler.

First I tried using eight Rechargeable NiMH AA batteries but they only lasted one loop around a single main (around 300') before they petered out (the batteries were probably defective).

I had wanted to use a 14.4 volt Ni-Cad battery that I got with a used Shark portable vacuum cleaner but I was concerned the voltage might be too high. 

Then I ran across a MRC AT880 UNIVERSAL VOLTAGE REDUCER (AC/DC) which according to MRC "The Universal Voltage Reducer lowers the top voltage output of the unit by approximately 4 volts" 











I put the MRC AT880 in series with the 14.4 volt battery and the voltage dropped to around 13 volts (I did not measure it under load and it has been awhile since the battery was charged. For me the Ni-Cad batteries are preferable to NiMH in that a Ni-Cad will keep running and noticeably slows down as the charge gets low. I prefer this to a NiMH battery that just stops suddenly when the charge gets low.

As you can see, the AT880 is just a series of diodes and one could make it pretty easily. Actually it is made for AC and DC so only one bank of diodes is being used with the Rail Broom.

After wiring the AT880 in series with the 14.4 volt battery I connected them to the Rail Broom and ran it around the layout.

I am quite pleased with how it runs. So far I have not used it with any twigs as there were none on the layout this morning. I expect it will handle small twigs fine.

One thing that occasionally happens with multiple tracks is that the car may flip a leaf from one track onto another but it is no particular effort to bring it back over that first track a 2nd time to get rid of the bothersome leaf.

When I installed the brush assembly I did so with the brush centered with the car. I was pleased to find that the brush did not have to be moved up or down after I installed it - it was just right without any adjustments.

One thing I noticed is that on 8' diameter curves the edge of the brush does not quite reach the outer rail. I suspect it would still knock off any leaves that were on the rail but I did not try it. The brush does extend well over the inside rail of an 8' diameter curve. Most of my outside track on this layout has 15' or wider curves but another layout has some 8' curves and 8' turnouts so I will have to see how well it works there. I expect it will be fine. One option I will have if I want to will be to move the brush to one side or the other a bit and just run it around the 8' curves first in one direction and if anything is left on the rails to run it again in the opposite direction but I do not think that will be necessary.

I tend to like the battery operation because the brush keeps turning even when I slow the loco down and stop it when it is on a reverse loop and I am reversing the polarity of the loop.

My first thought had been to put it in a shorty gondolas with the thought that it might turn quicker but I decided a full size gondola would be more stable and the extra weight would help keep the gondola on the rails. I may add some weight to the gondola to enable it to force its way through switches that are pointed in the wrong direction.

A big advantage of using a gondola was that I was able to make the initial cut exactly where it came through the wall flush with the bottom of the floor inside the gondola. I don't know if I could have done as well with a boxcar.

The sides of the gondola are high enough that I might consider making a top of fake coal to cover the battery etc. that are inside the gondola.

Overall I am pretty pleased with it. In a way it is sort of like running a LGB Track Cleaning Loco in that since you are doing what amounts to track maintenance it is kind of fun. I will be running it the first thing every morning that I run trains outside.

Jerry


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

It turned out that I needed to run the Rail Broom Car more than once. As I was running trains more leaves fell. It was simple enough to just run the car again. I will probably keep it handy when trains are running.

In my case it is perhaps more critical than for others in that my layout is level but my house is on a hill with about a 25% grade. The result is that the layout ends up over six feet above the ground so a train that derailed and fell down could be seriously damaged. It does not help in that there is a huge oak tree above the steepest part of the layout and the tree drops leaves, twigs, acorns etc. all year long.










Jerry


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Layout looks nice. Mine too, is level, but the max height is only 65" above the ground, and the closest it gets to the ground is 6". Needless to say, we have the same feeling as you about falling off the track.


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By noela on 18 May 2010 02:33 PM 
Layout looks nice. Mine too, is level, but the max height is only 65" above the ground, and the closest it gets to the ground is 6". Needless to say, we have the same feeling as you about falling off the track. 

Hi Noel,

I love your layout with the five main lines. 65" is more than enough to cause severe damage if anything falls to the ground.

With your layout I wonder if it might be desirable for you to angle the Rail Broom to one side or the other so you can work leaves to the edge and off. I would be concerned that with five main lines you could end up pushing leaves etc. back and forth between main lines.

I think someone said something somewhere about angling the Rail Broom but I don't recall what was said or if it was or was not thought to be a good idea.

Regards,

Jerry


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Broom too short, longer broom would have clearance issues, and it throws stuff far enough that most stuff goes to the side... anything that falls straight ahead gets thrown again. 

Sort of like a freeway, everyone is going straight, but eventually all the stuff gets thrown to the sides. 

Regards, Greg


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## noela (May 22, 2008)

Thank you. I also have purchased one of those B&D Electric Broom (Sweeper?) to do the job. I take off the lower piece so I don't create a tornado, and it works well, when necessary, you still can have a free hand to "pick" at stuff that needs to handled that way. Hopefully, the 65" doesn't become a devil's hole.

Noel


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

How about this baby?????









[url="


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Posted By Matt Vogt on 17 May 2010 07:10 PM 
Looks great, Jerry! Keep us posted to how well you like it if you don't mind.

Take care,
Matt 



Hi Matt,

I have been using the Rail Broom for a little while now. This is how I ended up configuring it: 












The Rail Broom is installed in a LGB full size gondola with heavy metal wheels to help push through turnouts thrown the wrong way. It is being pushed by a light and inexpensive Lionel 0-4-0 and followed by a short LGB D&RGW flatcar with metal wheels having contacts to add to the track contact of the loco and to power a LGB sound system that is covered by an old Aristo-Craft FA-1 fuel tank. The train ends with an Aristo-Craft D&RGW Bobber Caboose with ball bearing wheels powering lights in the caboose.

The Rail Broom Train is light and inexpensive so if something is going to happen to one of my trains I would prefer it to be this inexpensive train which is light enough to derail yet low powered to limit any tendency to keep going if derailed - off the deck and down to the ground.

My reaction to the Rail Broom is that I like it and it is the first train I run every time I run any trains. The 14.4 volt Ni-Cad battery is working out very well and I have run the train several days from a single charge. Often I run the train multiple times in a day if I notice anything falling on the track.

One day my wife left an extension cord across the tracks which derailed the gondola and loco but the loco had too little power to try to go anywhere so the train just accordioned where it was and no damage was done.

About the only negative I have come up with (and it is one I should have expected) is that the brush works sort of like a vacuum cleaner brush so anything long and thin like string or even some blades of grass can be caught up in the brush and wind themselves around and around the brush potentially distorting and damaging the brush. This seems to be more likely with live thin grass and not much of an issue with dead grass.

This is not a complaint - just something to watch for so if it happens the string or whatever can be removed before it accumulates and might possibly create some problems. A needle nose pliers works very well and the white bristles of the brush make it easy to see anything that should not be there.

Jerry


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

I've had the Railbroom a few months now and when I first ran the USA Hudson I thought I had checked the layout for twigs etc. but (not paying attention) I started to move the Hudson onto the inside loop and the Railbroom train was in the way so I ran it around the layout to get it out of the way.

In the process the Railbroom train hit and derailed on some garden trim that had fallen across the inside loop.

Thankfully it was the Railbroom and Lionel 0-4-0T that derailed and fell over and not the USA Hudson. The Railbroom car may have paid for itself in that one incident. Parts of the layout are over 6' above the ground. I could live with the Lionel 0-4-0T, Railbroom Car and Caboose falling off there but if the Hudson fell off there it would be a whole different situation. 

So far the only thing to fall that far has been a LGB Starter Set with an 0-4-0. Being LGB all I had to do was to wash the dirt off, snap the roofs back on the coaches, put everything back on the rails and continue running it with no damage whatsoever. I should have taken a photo because the last coach remained on the track; the loco was in the dirt below and the rest of the coaches were hung like Christmas lights by the lighting wires that ran from coach to coach.

I guess you could say that the Railbroom train runs protection for the rest of my trains now. 

Jerry


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