Build A Model Railway Vacuum Cleaner For Less Than £10
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
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A nice easy build project to find out whether it's possible to build a cheap railway vacuum cleaner!
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Edit: I've now fitted the vacuums with Hornby 12v 5pole motors (available cheap on Ebay - same size as in the Hornby 0-4-0s), and it now works fine without any resistors!
if I remember correctly, I have the exact same vacuum as that, and I got it from Poundland, so realistically is should be about £10 for the vacuums, the electronic components and the chassis.
I’d like to see the 2.0 version with it good on curves and the 12v motor
Have you tried cutting a hole in the center of the chassis, and mounting the vacuum through that? That might fix the curve problem.
Thanks for the update.
You could cut a hole in the bottom of a goods van and mount a 12v ducted 1u server fan in the hole on the floor inside goods van. Then replace most of the roof with a foam filter from a computer case fan to act as the dust bin. To improve the pickup from the track you could surround the hole in the bottom of the van with brush strip like you get on draught excluders.
Good job though :-)
If it ever should be sold it should be named “the Tracuum”
haha I love it!! ;D
Oh yeah I was thinking about that too lol
Lol ikr lmao
i was gonna say that
YUP ! !
Hey Sam, you should sell these! I may get one for a future model railroad of my own!
Good video!
haha, I reckon people would want slightly better build quality than I could offer if I was to sell them, lol! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I agree
Thanks Sam. I'm not an active railway modeller but I always enjoy your videos. Always well presented and informative.
Hi Mike, that's very kind of you to say - really glad you enjoy the videos! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I just bought a track cleaner then I saw this video I’m so mad😭
I LOVE your videos btw and I’m going to try and make my own either way
Ahh not to worry mate - this one I made isn't as good as a proper one anyway! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
8:04, 19:21 Hey! That’s the maple leaf rag! I can play that!
haha that's awesome!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Hi Sam, I was just watching back on this and had a small idea. Seen as you have the hoover part, maybe you could get a motor and wheel to make something like a conveyer belt but using an abrasive pad to clean the track heads. Then you have the hoover and the rail cleaning part.
Another great video and a nice one to rewatch.
Keep well!
Matthew
Hey i said about rgbs on a train and create a lightshow
Design improvement: 1. Use a single central vacuum with resistors. 2 Make extension hose to nozzle to relocate to center of coach. 2b relocate brush to make more close vertical contact with road bed in center of coach. 3 Suction nozzle pickup located right behind brush to suck in the debris the brush kicks up. This will allow it to track around corners and be more efficient at actually picking up debris.
That's probably much smarter John - I admit this isn't something I use any more!
Happy New Year - Sam :)
Sam
I think a genius invention with a similar idea , to solve the model railroaders #1 enemy- Dust.
Try putting some tiny computer fans onto a car, and trailing it once a day around your tracks Should fix the problem in immediate view of the tracks.
this project sounds extremley fun, and I think you'd love to mess with it.
haha thanks mate! Yeah computer fans is a good idea - but they tend to be quite large, without much sucking power ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Nice to hear someone with a proper English education who was taught how to pronounce 'solder' correctly!
BTW For those lacking a proper English language education, (only North Americans AFAIK) 'solder' rhymes with 'folder', 'colder', 'bolder' etc. i.e. ALL words with 'older' in them!
'Solder' does NOT rhyme with words like 'fodder', 'modder', 'dodder', 'nodder', 'odder', 'rodder' etc. all words which have 'odder' in them.
haha yes it's strange isn't it... I've heard people saying 'sodder' too!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
BY da whey, It's SAWder, and Sauna, NOT SAWna
Pivot the Vacs directly above bogie pivot. Rigid connect the Vac nozzle to the top of coupler to follow curves..
Nice job, like it! I think an idea to allow it to clean the track through the corners would be to join the hoovers to the bogie centres so that they point in the direction of the bogies when taking corners. You could also make the angle of the hoovers adjustable. Then you will have ultimate OO gauge double hoover!
Thanks very much mate - yes that would probably fix the issue actually, great idea!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Go vactrain
Hardcore railway modelers: this is absolutely disgraceful... This device is not proper
Sam: this is so much fun! I'm enjoying this!
At first I was afraid that the vacuum cleaners would hoover up any figures standing near the track, but now I realize that this might actually be the most efficient way to have passengers boarding and unboarding a train.
OOh there's an idea... sucked on and off trains?!?! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Should have named the vid: "SAM'S TRAINS BIN REVEAL - YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!"
That would have got you views!
But in all seriousness, this could actually be very useful for me, other than the fact that I don't have a solder (if that's how it's spelt), but I guess I could always borrow one from a friend.
haha - you reckon people would like that?! lol!
Sounds good mate - give it a go if you fancy a project!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Perhaps you could modify it and mount one vacuum on a chassis, and use it tube angled through the chassis and make a narrow flat ducting to suck through the chassis into the vac. Would solve your cornering problem and allow room for even more weight to keep it low on the track and open up use of your standard couplings! Just an idea though. 😊 be good to see you try that idea even if only for my own satisfaction!
That's a great idea Chris - that'd definitely be a good improvement to make!!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
With these little vacuums, I dont think its pulling up that much dust of the tracks, but from youre carpet. With the large nozzle at the end that actual air pressure at the intake probably isnt high enough. the dust on the track is probably a little static, since a tiny magnetic field exist around each rail cause dust to stick on the rails. The way i would change this, is to create a vacuum cleaner with two tiny nozzles causing the air pressure to be quite high around both tracks. Then mount these between the wheels of a bogie in order to make minimize the swivel of the nozzles.
Yeah that is very true - however, the brushed attachment does have much smaller holes, which should increase the air pressure... and I did indeed find more dust in that bin! The physics of what you say are sound though - I will look into that!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Perhaps in order to clean the curves, follow this video up by taking 3 of the Hornby 4 wheel wagons (the cheap railroad ones), take off the body and add the Hoover's to two and the batteries to the 3rd. Marshall them in the same order as now, and then everything should be able to articulate. Great idea though!
Yes that would work really well - although you could do it with only 3 wagons, since you don't need batteries (unless you want them!)!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Many Congratulations Sam by the invention really clears the crap that abuts the lines
haha thanks Gabriel - it does work better than I expected it to actually, lol! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I usually watch your Videos in pairs (catching up!)....
Sam my dear Lad, I LOVE your quirky build Videos. This was the QUIRKIEST (word?) EVER!! 😳😜😆
I'm actually impressed with your creativity! 👍👍
Looking at this, one thing jumps out at me. You mentioned that you thought of using two short Coaches...
The problem with that is - they will be too short, top heavy and unstable.
IF you could devise a way to extend a pole of sorts, from the Boogies, through the floor, to mounting pads that would fit the Vacuums...
You'd keep the advantage of a long frame, having both Vacuums on the single Coach , but each Vacuum would then swivel with the Boogies, and stay more aligned on curves!! 😉
I WISH I could put a picture in a UA-cam comment! 😖 But I hope you can understand what I'm seeing in me head.
It would certainly improve the Rube Goldberg effect!!! 😆😂😆😂😂
Carmine ✈🚂🚙
haha thanks Carmine, really glad you liked the quirkiness of this one - yeah that idea sounds very solid, that'd be great! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
If you detach the vacuum cleaners and articulate them using two wagon chassis’s, they can steer around corners.
Yep, that's my conclusion too - it should be quite easy to do!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I Need one of these! The dapol equivalent is too expensive for my pocket money budget.
Great video Sam, keep up the good work :D
haha I agree!! I strongly suggest trying to create your own like I did - find a suitable cheap vacuum (the ones I used were okay, but maybe there are better options?) and find a way to mount it onto a car! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Very ingenious Sam, cheap and effective, which is what some of us need....Many thanks...Bob
Thanks very much Bob, it was certainly an interesting one to create! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
What is the understanding of Pacific is it like southern or northern railways?
It depends - many railways had Pacifics, since that just refers to engines with a 4-6-2 wheel configuration! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
you can buy springs to put on the axles to get electrical contact
Yeah that'd be good too! If you were happy to spend a bit extra, that'd be a good move!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Sam you are Great! :-D I remember as an 8-year-old boy, taking some leftover cardboard from toiletrolls, and two of my model locomotives, and engineering "The Cone Express." It was fantastic fun. :-) Well done on your Track Vacuum. It looks marvellous! :-*
haha cheers Damian - haha that does sound like a lot of fun, probably just the sort of thing I might have done too, lol! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
The centreline hole mentioned by Spearmint Pony has merit .. I would suggest a passenger car base for the extra width and length and you could then use the standard couplers.
Yeah I liked that idea too - definitely good scope for improvement there!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I may be three years late...but here's my track vacuum:
step 1: *BUY A KIRBY*
step 2: *vacuum your tracks*
done.
I have a entire collection of every Kirby model built, so I will exercise them once each week with vacuuming my layout which takes up the entirety of my basement.
A minute in and I'm already loving it. If it doesn't work, it'll be hilarious and if it does, even better.
haha that's great to hear - hope you enjoy the rest, hehe! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
If you stay with the current setup and have a nozzle at one end ... maybe cut the tip of the nozzle at anangle so the round hole becomes parallel with the track. Might need the angle of the actual vacuum increased a little bit.
That's a good suggestion Malcolm - worth a try I think!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I love your channel! I dont have any train stuff yet. I've always thought about getting into the hobby. An the way you mess around with it makes it seem more fun an not so serious! A great thing to watch, keep up the goofy stuff. I hope to get into the hobby in the near future
Maybe split the chassis in half and use rods and pins to articulate the coach?
Yeah that'd be fantastic actually - a much cooler way to do it!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
It's alive!! I always love your monsters that you create mate. I the speed ones better.
Thanks so much Michael - me too, I prefer the fast ones! ;D
Merry Christmas - Sam :)
I actually considered doing this but with 1 vacuum and some diodes in series to drop the voltage, but was concerned the vacuum wouldn't have enough suction to be effective.
I might give it a try if I get some spare time and make a custom attachment to concentrate the suction - might work a bit better.
Nice video as always Sam and another crazy creation to add to your list :)
Thanks Gerry! Yeah the diodes would work, but you'd need quite a lot for the voltage to drop enough, so I decided to just get two! These vacuums are okay, but not great - I'd suggest trying to find a better one if you're trying it! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
23:50 the Tart class is making a comeback ;)
haha yes! ;D
You had a great opportunity to name it the TracVac.
haha!! ;D
I use the dapol track cleaner two per locomotive.
You should make more of these experimental trains
This is a simple design, but I have one one concern, what happens if attach the power backwards? Especialy now that you have normal 12V motors inside (I suggest adding a full-wave bridge rectifier to the circuit). Oh, and for future reference, there are adjustable buck modules (dc to dc step-down converters) available (not only that, I wouldn't be suprised if there are special ones to supply power for usb devices) and they are great for small(-ish) projects (for example, look at some that are based on the LM2596 IC, those usualy are for up to 3A output current and up to 36V input voltage and with output voltage range 1.25 - (Vin-1)V, you realy can build a crude adjustable power supply with one! Not to mention that some modules come with a current limit setting built in.); that would allow for efficient power conversion (however a full-wave bridge rectifier would be required).
eryk sołowiej I have another concern, my layout has real gravel
The polarity doesn't matter - the 'fan' inside these works like a 'centrifuge', so the direction of spin doesn't matter! Thanks for the tip on the regulators though, that's worth looking into!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
GOTTA SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP DAT MESS UP!
haha yes indeed!! ;D
That's a really cool and unique idea I like it alot
Thanks very much mate - glad you did! :D
Cheers,
Sam :)
That first vacuum track cleaner made you sneeze. I'm surprised your new-build of it didn't. New-build models of your own design are all very well, but what you've created there is a recipe for making you sneeze.
Sam loved his new-build vacuum track cleaner. He had made tiny amendments to it, so it could go round curves properly. He was so in love with it, he got a bit carried away and let it run round twice before bringing it to a halt. Was this a wise decision to make? He wasn't so sure.
One wastepaper bin beside the layout. Sam carefully unscrewed the cleaner caps and a cloud of dust spilled out everywhere. Uh-oh! Sam accidentally dropped his new model in the bin and turned his head away. He quickly covered his mouth.
"Aatchoo!" he sneezed, suffering a noseful of ticklish dust. He sneezed three times more and at last managed to stop. Or had he?
"Me and my crazy models," he sniffled. "What did I think I was doing?" A fifth sneeze caught him unawares. He sneezed over an indignant Thomas the Tank Engine.
"Turn your head, you idiot!" scolded Thomas severely.
"Sorry, Thomas," apologised Sam, "it's the dust from my new vacuum cleaner. I got carried away with it." Come to think of it, no matter how hard he tried, poor Sam just couldn't stop sneezing. He felt ready to burst like a balloon. Doing the dusting by hand made matters worse. At long last, every speck of dust left over settled in the bin. Sam sneezed for the twentieth time and stopped. Well, he hoped so. He'd had enough of sneezing for one day.
That night, in bed....
"AATCHOO!" Sam woke up sneezing all over again. He managed to get back his beauty sleep. Sam, don't let the Sneeze Bugs bite. It won't do you any favours.
haha, I'm surprised I didn't sneeze too! I am very prone to sneezing, with my hayfever!
Great work as always Kelly, lol!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I've thought other way of how to make the vacuums turn the corners
If you have at the main body system the vacuums turn and then add little wheelsets on the ends of the vacuum it might be possible for them to turn
Yeah that's a good idea - I may try that! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Interesting design. I seem to have various track cleaning wagons including the hornby one which has been modified with more weight to actually make it work.
Thanks a lot Ben - yeah I've noticed that those Hornby ones are too light too! :O
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Fantastic. You do realise that now you have a working prototype Hornby are going to get their copy out to the market first just to undercut you. What next, how about a drive through coach and locomotive cleaner.
haha! I'd be quite happy for them to Rob - I could do with a decent version of this!! lol!
There's an idea - be careful what you wish for ;)
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Make a little contraption to put models onto the rails easier for novices with some little angled grooves on each side
Yeah you can buy those - rerailers you mean??
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Oh I feel silly now
I’m new to the hobby
Hi Sam i have an idea of making a train almost literally covered in rib leds connected to a battery pack to not short circuit your stuff (hint :)) ha ha might make a hella lot of a light show
Great video Sam definitely a good idea must have taken a while to build
Thanks a lot David! It wasn't too time consuming - about an hour or so!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Interesting creation!
I recently got a volunteering role at an air museum restoring aircraft! I am very much enjoying it and I am one of the youngest volunteers they have ever had being only 17 years old!
Edit: as someone who is learning how to do engineering properly, that drilling was painful to watch...
Thanks a lot SG! Wow that sounds awesome mate - really glad you're enjoying it!! Sounds like you'll pick up some awesome tips! ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Could you get a coach and replace the one end with an an 0-4-0 chassis and make it look steam powered
haha you absolutely could yeah - it'd be up to you!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I think the GWR had a version of that at some point
Excellent it just needs to be yellow and would pair with a yellow class 31.
haha yeah!! That'd make it much more subtle ;)
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
That is so cool I'm going to make one but it will say made by Sam trains thanks for marking it
haha awesome - good luck with it mate, hope it all goes well for you! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Yes!!!!! I always wanted to have loco also can you review the a1 Pacific Northwest steam based on 1 they can do the first one now so just get the one that's based on Gordon
Thanks Nathan - hope it works for you! Yeah that sounds awesome - I'd love to try that one! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Very intriguing video. Has me thinking about a motorized track rubber. I have a "track cleaning car" but it's very heavy and has to be pulled. Seeing this, I might try converting a loco into a track cleaner.
Thanks very much Josh - yes a motorized track rubber would be awesome, but the pressure required would mean it'd have to be really heavy... and I think it'd just derail! The Dapol track cleaner has track cleaning functions too, but they're basically useless!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Would it be plausible to have the two vacs through the centre of the chassis pointed at each other? That way corners are no issue, and the brush is right in front of another vac so anything flicked up by the bristles gets sucked into the other vac. Guess you could add a spring loaded pad to the rear end of the wagon with some microfibre cloth which you could add isopropyl alcohol to, to clean the rails (i assume thats a thing model railway people do. Used to do it to mine when i was a kid)
Yeah that might be a good idea - my design was definitely much too wide!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Shouldn't resistors be in SERIES with the motors, to reduce the applied voltage at the motors ?
A model railway vacuum cleaner for less than a tenner like it
Thanks Paul! It does make for a fun project!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Wow speed in the real life
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I love how you’re not frightened to try anything!
Have made a rail cleaner ?😊
haha thank you! This is the only one I made! ;D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
You should put couplers on it
I need to get myself one of those
haha good luck - they're fun to build! :D
HEY SAM'S TRAINS, WELL DONE FOR BEING WITH HATTONS I WAS SO SURPRISED
haha thank you! It was a fantastic day!! :D
this will work on straights not so much on track a on bends ie track a b c or d
Yep - it's not great on curves, but if you were to improve the design, it would do curves fine too!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
could you use 1 and a L shape nozzle to go through the coach base like the blue one you showed
the dust is more likely to be off the carpet mainly on the curves than the track !
haha yeah that's true!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I'll definitely need more than 10 pounds to buy an actual model railroad for "The Tracuum"
you should make a coachomotive its a steam loco but with the shell on top of the wheels a coach insted of the loco shell but it might take mutiple loco wheel units to get the length of the coach depending on how long the coach is this might seem like a crazy idea that won't work but it will be fun and if it does work awesome :-)
Ooh that'd be awesome - great idea there!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Maybe you should try connect the vacuum and they brush to the bogies?
Yeah that would have worked pretty well - though it would have been difficult!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Can you do a bachmann pannier review
I have done! Check my Railway Children train pack review! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
That will come in handy.
Thanks mate - I hope so!!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
haha:) Awesome video I now don't have to go round with a track cleaner rubber and that takes ages. All I need to do now is make one of these :-)
Edit: WOW it works!
Thank you!! Though this doesn't replace track rubbers unfortunately :(
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Have you got a name for your railway
Not particularly... though I'm open to suggestions!!?? :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Mine idea is:
South midlands railway
@@SamsTrains my idea is: The great Bullman railway
Looks perfect for a layout that runs subway trains. But I digress.
haha!! ;D
I have a strange idea. Take any coach and saw off one end wall. Then saw off the bunker of an 0-4-0 tank engine. Bam, railmotor.
haha that'd be awesome - that's got to be tried one day!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Hi Sam, Great things come from the test bed , from little acorn's grow big Oaks, All the Best Brian 🤗
haha absolutely Brian, lol! ;D
Cheers mate,
Sam :)
Very interesting, I like that new track cleaner
Thanks Daniel - it's a bit rough, but it seems to work well!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
HEY SAM'S TRAINS, NICE VACUUM CLEANER 1,000,000/1,000,000
Thanks so much Benito - glad you liked it mate! :D
Cheers,
Sam :)
Very good drill
I agree!! :D
Wow I need a vacuum train for my track
Look into the Dapol Track cleaner - it does a good job of vacuuming! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
you are a genius great thinking
haha thank you!!! :D
Well it might be a whacky design, but it certainly works!
Good effort!
Thanks very much mate - I wasn't really expecting it to work, but I'm glad it does! :D
Cheers,
Sam :)
Very interesting sam i was looking to get some sort of little vacuum cleaner for my railway not going to build anything like yours but if the vac it's self is any good i might get one Lorraine
That sounds great Lorraine - let me know how it goes if you get one! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
It's a trackuum! !!
haha yess!!! :D
Very interesting video Sam.
Thanks again Arthur!! :D
Sam that is a very smart invention and very a can be useful 😄👍
haha thanks mate, glad you liked this one! :D
Cheers,
Sam :)
WHY so much spare cable roll-up ?
I feel like it would be more effective just to buy one and go over the layout by hand. interesting build though.
It would be - but that's not possible for me, since I'd have to move the book case to get to certain parts of the track... and other areas are very difficult to access! Also, with as much track as mine, it takes hours to do it by hand - so this is far better! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Sam's train could you build a crane that moves 360 degrees and load and unload cargo?
That'd be fantastic fun - I'd love to try that! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I have a neighbour with a (considerably larger format) track outside in his garden and he's vacuuming every day, which is pretty annoying. That aside; Why? Why does he need to do that? Can anyone explain???
You could have gotten a loco to push the vacuum and only one would be used
haha yeah that's a good idea!!
Sam'sTrains you are my favorite youtuber ever and it means so much that you commented. Thank you
Maybe you can make a Rails that clean the wheels of your train
Yeah I'd love to make that - that'd be amazing!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
What's your favorite loco in your collection? In general?
Probably the Bachmann C1 atlantic! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Hey Sam you should make the smallest model train
Great idea!! :D
Hay sam way not give jame the red engine and Gordon the blue engine do all the cleaning the tracks.😂
I could do that - but they use the track power too, meaning they'd pull the car too fast on full power!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Woah! Brilliant invention
haha thank you!! :D
Wow I did find that very interesting, I do find weird and wonderful Creations like this great! I'm trying to improve my knowledge and electrics, so maybe I might be able to make one of these sometime. great video Sam well done 👍
Thanks very much George - hope you're able to make one - it would be a fun electronic project!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
that is a funny looking contraption lol
Haha thank you xD
I love your videos
Thanks a lot Daniel! :D
If you develop it further You should do a box design competition for the st track cleaner!
That would be great actually - I'd enjoy trying that!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
The TrakVac® by Sam'sTrains
haha!! I love it!! :D
Also Sam a big boy steam engine. Has been restored to working order. By the union pacific railroad. Here in amarica this year.
Yeah I saw that!! It's great to hear that she's finally working again!! :D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)