GUMBUSTER MODEL LOCOMOTIVE WHEEL CLEANING TOOLS

GUMBUSTER MODEL LOCOMOTIVE WHEEL CLEANING TOOLS

These tools are our specialty, an invention patented in 1997. They are designed with a grooved foam plastic pad that soaks and rubs the wheel treads and flanges with train or track cleaning fluids. The foam plastic pads are never replaced, they are cleaned by being squeezed under running water, or by pressing with a dry paper towel to blot out the dirty fluid. This process of cleaning is identical to the operation of a standard kitchen mop sponging a dirty floor. There is no abrasion to either the trains or the tool, even traction tires are cleaned harmlessly! The cleaning fluid is contained by the foam and is easily prevented from contacting the model's body paint or your skin. Unlike other methods of wheel cleaning, the Gumbuster will never re-gauge (change the spacing of) model railroad wheel sets.

Originally, in 1995, the first Gumbuster was designed to clean N and HO scale cars only. My small N scale cars developed an obvious (and excessively UNprototypical) rock and roll motion when rolling down the track with gunk collected on their wheels, and lighted cars rarely stopped flickering without a capacitor or battery to hold the voltage steady! The original Gumbuster eliminated the problem quickly with very little effort. But marketing this tool quickly showed that most hobbyists were much more concerned about the performance of their expensive locomotives. So..., electric contact plates and wires were added to the 18" GUMBUSTERS EN & EZN to supply a locomotive with power to almost instantly spin its own wheels clean. These electrified tools were well received by hobbyists across the nation because of a generous review in the February, 1997 issue of Model Railroader Magazine.

With advice from fellow hobbyists, in July, 2000, a new contact design was introduced which eliminated the need for wires to be fastened between the tool and track rails. Now, a train operator could set the Gumbuster directly on the track to draw power for the engine with no wires to fuss with. The 16" GUMBUSTER 2000 (G2K) combined the proven cleaning effectiveness of the earlier designs with unprecedented convenience.

The new 24" GUMBUSTER LARGE SCALE (GLS) and 36" GUMBUSTER CENTENNIAL are being released this year after two years of field testing and improvements. They are scaled-up versions of the Gumbuster 2000 with an extra foam pad included for cleaning the back side of some G scale engine wheels where electric contact wipers collect grime. The Centennial is a 12" longer "stretch limo" version of the GLS. Another version can be made that is 48" long, but not until market experience determines that it is needed.

By Forrest Skidmore

BACK TO OUR PRODUCT CATALOGUE