Pole Sander for cleaing the track

05/31/04

Pole Sander for track cleaning:

In the early stages of my layout my roadbed shingle material wasn't wide enough resulting in me needing to use a weed-eater and had visible debris on the rail afterwards. To quickly clean I put together this track cleaner made from a pole sander (used for drywall sanding) which can be purchased at any large hardware store. Because I use stainless steel rail I didn't want to use the typical mesh sanding sheet as that would be too abrasive, so I chose to adhere 'Finishing pads' (by 3M - used for sanding items before painting). I used blue PVC pipe adhesive on a pair of the 3M finishing pads to the mesh sanding sheet and let dry. I then simply attached the mesh sheet with the new pads to the pivot plate.