The yard brush

I suspect this is another of those titles for a post that will puzzle some readers. What I am referring to is a soft brush provided to a yardmaster or yard operator.  But why, you cry. The answer is simple: when a lull in yard work comes along, the yard operator can remove dust from car roofs or interiors. To illustrate, below is a hopper car interior, quite dusty as the finger marks show. Why not dust this?

I have to quickly mention that in O scale, many layout owners seem to like the dusty look, and will tell you, instead of dusting the cars, to please not touch them and thereby disturb the nice dust. This post is for all other types of layout owners, who generally have the opposite view of dust.

So what kind of brush am I suggesting? The usual sort of “make-up” powder brush, available at any cosmetics counter, is large and soft, perfect for dusting without disturbing detail parts. The best kind is the broad brush I was told is a “blusher” of the kind you see below. This type is also called a “face brush” or a “powder brush.” This brush is about 5 inches long, and is the one I use for my layout.

As you can see, the brand is “essence of Beauty.” They have an extensive line of makeup powders and brushes, and brushes are usually around $5.00 or so.

Another brush I have used, and currently acts as my “traveling brush,” when I operate at someone else’s layout, is from the “bareMinerals” brand, and is also about 5 inches long. I use the larger, soft end. This brand also offers a “powder brush” like the one shown above. Brushes from this brand are considerably more expensive than the “essence of Beauty” brushes; I inherited this one.

I have a third brush, with no brand name on it, very similar physically to the others, which I keep on my workbench (in a different place than the layout). It’s the same size, but has black bristles, equally as soft as the others, and I use it for the same kinds of dusting.

All these brushes are quite effective, and I like what they can do. They all get used, whether home or away. And by the way, of course I ask the layout owner’s permission to dust cars, as should anyone! Below I show my “visiting” brush in action on Jim Providenza’s well-known Santa Cruz Northern layout, though in reality it wasn’t needed, just a demo.

So is this important? No, not really, totally a detail, though I sometimes remark that a well-equipped yard should have a yard brush handy. Brushes like this need not be expensive, so you might give one a try. Whether you permit visiting operators to wield one is a separate decision <grin>.

Tony Thompson