TRACK CLEANING CAR |
10
Assembly
Pop off the car’s body. Unscrew the trucks, and turn the chas-
sis over on its back. Measure or use your compass to find the
centerline, and either scratch a mark or just use the compass to
establish a 12-scale foot distance on the centerline. Chuck-up
your 3/16” drill bit and drill away. The holes will be a little larger
than the diameter of the roofing nails because we don’t want
the nails binding, we want them “floating” in their holes.
As a finishing touch before final assembly, I spray the slider
tops, nails, and sides – the parts that show – with the same
brown camouflage paint I use to spray paint my track. The
rough side, bottom, should remain au natural. Raw and rough,
it’s got work to do.
Only after the epoxied nails have fully cured and reached their
maximum strength, slide the nails through the holes in the
bottom of your car. To hold this rig in place we do not need
threaded stock, screws, nuts, bolts or any other over-the-top
builder stuff. We only need starlock washers, which sell for
about a dime each at places like Ace Hardware.
Push the starlock washers on over the nails, pop the body back
on, and screw on the trucks and, voila, you now have a fully
operational track-cleaning slider car or sled car. If you pick the
car up, the slider stays attached. On the track, it will glide gen-
tly, gobbling up filth.
However – and this is a major however – you must have smooth
track. No minefields, booby-traps or actuating wires from
Tortoise switch machines. If an actuating wire stands taller than
the height of the rail, get out your trusty Dremel with a carbide
