Erasing the dirt off of track

After I read the story “Proper Substitutes For Lionel Track Cleaner” in the July 2020 issue, I wanted to share my cleaning car. I run Marx tinplate electric trains. I’ve taken a spare boxcar and have cut a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (a generic one will work too) to fit the underside of the car. I use doublesided tape to hold the eraser to the underside of the car. Before I connect the boxcar, I push it by hand over a section of O gauge track to make rail impressions on the eraser, Next, I apply either Goo Gone or smoke fluid to the impressions. Then I connect the boxcar to the train. Simply running the train for several passes over the entire layout is all that’s necessary to clean the track for smooth operation. Using an old Marx stampedmetal boxcar is perfect, because the underside is flat with nothing to affect the hold on the eraser. Depending on the couplers, you could run this car with a Lionel, MTH, or other O scale engine. –