Q: How do mechanical passenger car washers work? — Steve Moore
A: Keeping passenger cars clean is a never-ending battle as they’re subjected to the same dirt, dust, and grime as locomotives and freight cars. While spot cleaning, such as windows, is handled en route, extensive cleaning is handled at coach yards and larger terminals. Andy Sperandeo, former Model Railroader editor, explained how mechanical car washers worked in his book The Model Railroader’s Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operation (Kalmbach Books, 2006). Here’s what he had to say on the topic:
“Coach yards also included cleaning tracks where trains could be cleaned both inside and out. These were typically arranged on platforms on either side of the track to give car cleaners access to the sides and windows of both sides of each car.
“Mechanical car washers were installed at some large terminals for cleaning the exteriors of whole trains. A switcher would couple to the consist to be cleaned and draw it slowly through the car washer’s detergent sprays and rotating brushes. In general these machines cleaned only the sides of passenger cars while the roofs, less visible to the public, were left to accumulate locomotive soot, road grime, and other ‘weathering.’
“Car washers didn’t have a lot of effect on trucks and underbody equipment, either. At least one major railroad, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, made it a practice to spray fresh silver paint on the trucks and unskirted underbody equipment of cars turned in its coach yard.”
Wm. K. Walthers Inc. offered an HO scale mechanical car washer in its Cornerstone line as item No. 933-3186, but it’s listed on the manufacturer’s website as discontinued. Stewart Products, part of Alexander Scale Models, offers mechanical car washer kits in two-, four-, and six-brush versions in N and HO.
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