Okay, I wanna try gleaming my track. I have the washers, but I've heard you need two different grades of sandpaper on the rail tops. I've also heard you can just use a bright-boy. Anyone know which is the best way to do it before rubbing on the metal washers? Or it doesn't matter?
The sand paper has a way of removing the finish on the track allowing dirt to build up. The bright boy is barely a step away from sand paper it too can remove the finish. A masonite board cut down into small pieces, fixed to ride under any freight car, will clean the tracks nicely without damaging it. A clean soft kitchen dish towel or an old T shirt, with some rubbing alcohol is the best method.
Hmm...I must say that I use 600 grit sandpaper very occasionally on my few spots of rails where I seem to get the small black smears, and once a year I will go over most of the rail system with a gentle swipe. Just 'cuz. Fact is, I don't get dirty track. I only run trains maybe once a week, but often won't turn a wheel anywhere for a couple or three weeks at certain times of the year. I used sand paper for conditioning my rails once I had done all my scenic work to ensure it was clean. I would worry about coarse sand paper, say 180-300 grit, or worse, because it would leave much more defined grooves that might accumulate crud and make cleaning that much more difficult. But with the 600 grit, I keep the tiny black smears at bay near the odd frog that seems to cause them, and when I do rub most of the rails as part of my annual tidying, it doesn't seem to be succeeded by a degradation in my operations. Or, so has been my experience for just over four years now.
Like Rick, I use a small piece of masonite, smooth side down. You don't need sandpaper, just some elbow grease. Mike
When gleaming your tracks, you want to use a very fine grit sandpaper, or wet-dry sandpaper, 600 to 1200 grit. Many modelers use the 600 to start and 1200 afterwards. 600 grit is very fine and works well in gleaming. It does not leave scratches in the rails the way Bright Boys do. The 1200 grit isn't sanding as much as it is polishing. The stainless steel washers seem to burnish the rails, making them exceptionally smooth. The metal polish completes the process and seems to protect the rails from further oxidation. Several forum members have also used No-Ox for rail cleaning. It can be used by itself and works well. It may work even better after gleaming. I'll know sometime around Christmas when I get my Christmas layout set up again. I built it for under the tree last year. I not only gleamed the rails while I was building it, I also used No-Ox. It's been stored in the basement, uncovered, since Christmas. I fully expect it to work the first time when I set it up this year. Darrell, quiet...for now
What I've read of gleaming, the purpose of the increasingly fine sand-papers is to get rid of the rough scoring on the top that grime gets into. So yes, it does matter. Go with the dandpapoer.
I know popular opinion in this thread has been against it, but my tool of choice is a bright boy, gets everything up with a bit of elbow grease. I really don't clean track all that often either and I still get good performance. I've seen mixed results with the Masonite board under car trick. some places it works great some places we actually banned them. running trains with metal wheels seems to work because if the track only has a bit of dirt on it, the wheels will polish it.
I'm Not Sure Which is Best I am currently a No-Ox user and I will continue that for now as I have time to get to all the track. In my current thinking on the subject, the rail oxidation is silver oxide which is conductive of electricity. The only thing necessary to keep the trains running is vacuuming the track and cleaning loco wheels. You don't even need No-Ox. As I said, I'm not sure of that. Although my layout is N scale, I am also in a large H0 scale club and they never clean track. They just vacuum up after construction. It seems to run just fine. I suggest you read as much as you can and try a few of the ideas you think are best. Then decide for yourself. I do think there may be more than one way to keep your track in operating order. I haven't tried gleaming, but it sounds like it would work. Couldn't hurt.
When I clean track (which is rare) I use 600 grit sandpaper or bright boy. I have found that running trains a couple times a week will keep the track clean and isn't that what we should be doing anyway.
Definition?:tb-ooh: I thought "gleaming" was done with another piece of metal, not sandpaper or bright boy. The use of an old quarter in my experience works best for gleaming. Sanding to me is sanding. Filing and grinding are other aspects of sanding with more aggressive action. Unless you end up with a polished rail surface it will hold dirt and provide a larger surface area for oxidization, which will hold grime. IMO Grime is the real enemy for electrical conductivity, with oxidization being the secondary problem because it holds the grime. I have recently had to grind on some uneven track joints using a double grit carborundum sharpening stone. When finished with the process I lightly sanded with 600 grit sandpaper / block, followed by gleaming with an old quarter. The results were a factory finish and even track joints. This was with Unitrack on a zero grade layout. I run metal wheels; however track and wheel cleaning are still required on an as needed basis. These are just my findings and others may have different opinions / results.:tb-cool: Jerry
Yes, I believe this is correct. I am not sure where the term"gleaming" originated, but I understand it to be the model railroad equivalent of shot peening a metal surface to change the properties.
I have a couple of 'Bright Boy" type cleaners. One is abrasive, for cleaning up after scenery work, etc. The other is more the consistency of a hard eraser. The latter I use to burnish rails. I prefer to not use sandpaper or much abrasive at all. Boxcab E50
No, as I understand it, it's a multi-step process, which involves using an abrasive of some sort, THEN using a piece of metal to burnish the rail. I get the burnishing part, what has been unclear to me is the abrasive part.
I think gleaming is just a reference to making the metal clean and very smooth and shiny. Shot peening doesn't achieve this - it's a process of hammering the surface of the metal (thereby putting thousands of tiny dents in it) to change it's metallurgical properties. It's used on things like blades in jet engines.
I keep thinking you people are riding Skateboards over your track work. Gleeming the Cube. (If you're too old to get that, you are a square man...actually, if you're old enough to get that, you're also a square...and possibly a narc.)
I believe that shot peening is a hardening process. Metro, the original poster of the gleaming process, to my knowledge, described it on Model Railroader back in late 2005, maybe early 2006. He described a four step process. First, 600 grit paper, followed by 1200 grit, followed by a metal wheel polish for magnesium automotive mag wheels. Once the wheel polish had been let dry to a powder and wiped off with a clean cloth, the last step was using a good quality steel washer and scrubbing the tire surface of the rails. Scrubbing meaning back and forth, not leaning hard enough to continue to wear away the rails any more than necessary. The idea was to make the rail tops "gleam"...hence the name he imparted to the process.
I'm too old to get that, however I've been called worse names. Thanks Crandell for sharing Metro's technique.:thumbs_up: Jerry
It seems to be a method of making the track super smooth. I agree, not like peening. I had not heard of the sanding before.
