So after nearly 10 years in storage out came the Kato Track. At first, even with oiling not many Locos would run. The track will get gummed up with dirt and oxidization after that amount of time. I took out the trust brilliant stone and the washer and proceeded to scrub away. Needless to say, after a while it became quite the chore and I went looking for another solution. as you can see that tracks were quite oxidized. I went out after a bit of research and purchased a can of Electronic Cab Cleaner. Sprayed it on a couple of old 9 3/4 inch pieces gave them a wipe until no more GOO & Guk came off on the cloth. Left them overnight a bang what a difference. Picture of the can "REVIVE" seems like a fitting name. I then figured if it worked on the track well, why not try it on a couple of LOCOS I knew I would need to take apart and clean. So I sprayed them lightly, waited a bit for them, and then placed them on the track. Off they took with no hesitation.
So I just pulled out my X-Mas loop from outside storage of about 3 or 4 years since last we used it. My son wanted the On30 train this year and not the Lego train... OK... well needless to say it was a mess. I was able to get trains running again but it was not fun. I had to knock the big corrosion off with some 600g sand paper and after that an electrical contact cleaning eraser (think bright boy for electronics) and then I finished it all off with some alcohol on a rag. My rag looked just like yours for a lap, but the second lap everything was clean and the trans ran from early December to New Years weekend. Hopefully you do not need to resort to the sandpaper method but a bright boy or the like may help to polish the tracks a bit and remove the tarnish/corrosion.
@Massey - No more bright boy or sandpaper just a rag and this stuff is all I am now using. I share your grief, what a chore initially. I might buy one of those Brass CRC cars - Not sure if they really work or its just hype.
We clean the track to keep our wheels clean, then we clean the wheels to keep our track clean. It's the ouroboros of model railroading.
If there is one thing I look forward to having one day it's battery operated locomotives in N scale! But the ECC looks like a really good product. Thanks for sharing this. Ralph
I'll second that. I have had the n scale variant for years. I replaced the truck mounted couplers with body mounted.
I have been using the Woodland Scenics pads for the past couple of years. Mostly the one with the cloth like feel or for stubborn areas I use the mildly abrasive pad in the kit. I don't use a Brite Boy any more. On my rolling stock, which all have metal wheels I use a Dremel with the wire brush attachment if needed, works great!. For locos I use the Trix wire brush wheel cleaner. This works great too for on-the-spot diagnosis of electrical pick up problems on my locos too. Since I run steam only, having clean wheels, clean track and all wheel pick up on a switching layout, I need as much electrical pick up as possible.
No-Ox (plastic safe) is touted on another board as a wonder cure - put on just a smidge, wipe it off, and live a long & happy life. It puts on a conductive protective layer of something.
I tried no-ox-id long ago, its creepy how well it works. Packed up my centerline cleaners and haven't unpacked them since. Track cleaning is maybe once a year now.
Exact same experience for me. Life-changing, actually. Bewildering, but life-changing. Used to have to clean track every time I ran trains and sometimes again during. Now it's like you said....maybe once every 6 months to a year. I still have about 2/3 container of the Bar Mills version.
Yes, you can find it on Amazon or eBay (cheaper). Look for the 2 oz. plastic tub and not the 8 oz. tube that will last many generations. Make sure it is "No-Ox-Id A-Special" made by SanChem.
Chris, what country are you in? I'm assuming not in the US? I heard shipping this stuff can be a problem because it may be classified as dangerous goods for international flights. Anyway you can search for local sellers?
I'm in Switzerland, and its a common problem. Amazon have only just started to ship direct here, before you had to have a "friend" in nearby France to have it delivered too. It is such a issue that Amazon will ship certain items to some of the supermarkets and you can pick it up from there. I'll have another look, maybe ebay or something like that. Another thing I have found is the language barrier, trying to find a product can be a bit tricky when the French or German translation from English doesn't quite work.
Back in 2014 I addressed the problem of why some track needs cleaning more often. It has to do with the amount of nickel in the track. The price of nickel has varied widely over the years and the percentage of nickel in our track goes up or down with the fall or rise in the price of nickel. Here is my post from 2014: Track & Turnout Cleaner | TrainBoard.com - The Internet's Original
Am I the only guy who has no problem just using a 99 cent bottle of IPA and paper towels? (for both track and wheels)
