Floor Running Trains

[Kotori]

Hey all,

 

Been a while since I’ve posted here, but I figured I’d ask the forum about this.  Is it bad for your model’s motor/gears/wheels to run them on track that’s set up on the floor?  I’ve heard that floor running can cause damage or issues with dust and lint getting into gears.  What’s the general consensus on this?

[cteno4]

Hi Kotori,

 

The simple answer is yes on the floor there is a more chance of having schmutz that could get sucked into mechanisms. But there is a simple remedy to that, like vacuuming the floor before putting down track and if you leave it set up on the floor for a while just run the vacuum hose with a brush attachment over the track before running. Pet hair, especially cats, can get sucked in (I cleaned a fiend’s mechs a number of times with a cat and pulled out many fluffier cat hair from them), but again easily countered with some vacuuming. A small air filter next to a floor or table setup can also help dust to a minimum in the room (I’m shocked at how much thick dust our air filters can take out just on the prefilters).

 

so just clean before and while keeping setup and no worries really! More finished layouts can actually be harder to keep schmutz free due to structures and scenery to try and clean.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Kingmeow]

Many, if not all, Kato US locomotives have exposed gears on the underside of the trucks.  Those openings just suck up all kinds of dirt and debris.  Take a small piece of blue painters tape and trim to size and tape up those holes with a single piece of tape.  It won't eliminate dirt and debris but will reduce the pick up of them greatly.  Some people do that for even layout running as layouts tend to have their own type of dirt and debris (e.g., loose ballast).

[Welshbloke]

One way around this is to use the elevated viaduct track systems. Lifting the track 50mm off the ground stops the fuzz getting into the mechanisms. It does make it harder to build a yard of any sort though (passing loops at a station are easy enough, you just need more station deck panels for the extra width).

 

I have three cats, so genuine floor running is only a good idea for G scale or larger. Mine are short haired and still moult spectacularly!