Hi Everyone, I need some advice on cleaning some real dirty track in a hidden storage area. It seems my MOW supervisor has forgotten to run his Centerline track cleaning car over this section of track and now I need to clean it. I usually use my Centerline car with rubbing alcohol or dry but since this section is so dirty it needs a heavier clean. Can someone give me ideas on cleaning solutions I can use that won't leave a residue, or can be cleaned off with the alcohol. Any and all suggestions would be welcome. Thanks, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Ron
If all else fails, you could lightly sand the corrosion off dry, vacuum the dust up, then use a Cratex abrasive erasure to polish the rail tops again. If its really bad, borrow an auto body sander and give it H. E. double golf clubs!
Here's a possible solution for you that I bet nobody's heard about.... Contact an industrial electrical supply warehouse, such as Graybar or Western States and get some electrical cable cleaner, such as some stuff made by Polywater or Rainbow. It's a strong solvent BUT it's safe on plastics such as PVC. A difficult combination to get. Get so that dries "slower", so you can spend some time cleaning it before it all disappears. It dries with absolutely no residue, and does a bang-up job. I have some that I got from a vendor as free samples and it's awesome to clean tracks. It's going to cost quite a bit more than alcohol, but it'll clean a lot better. If you want cheap, use some alcohol, 99% pure, in your cleaning car. Mark in Utah
I use 91% isopropyl alcohol for track cleaning, as well as paint stripping. The alcohol, applied to the rails with a Qtip, help keep the track clean, and works on locomotive wheels. On the really bad stuff, the Brite Boy/elbow grease route is what I take. Whatever you do, do NOT, repeat NOT, use sandpaper- it leaves tiny grooves in the rail, which can hold grime.
YES, Friscobob is correct! DO NOT sand the rails and leave them as sanded! ALWAYS polish them with the abrasive rubber to remove any grooves left. I was referring to the green corrosion that brass rails sometimes get from time and moisture. It seems to pit the brass below, and the Craytex does not remove this pitting, it only fills it with abrasive particals and grit from the barss. Sanding or filing is the only way I know to remove the corrode on brass rail. We work carefully and only on the spot that is covered with the corrode, never sand the clean areas! Even then we used 180 grit to remove the corrode, and 600 to remove the worst grooving, then polish it with a Dremel tool and one of the rubber Craytex abrasive wheels to polish the rail head. Using nicklesilver rail does not present this problem. A gummy oil and dust deposit is about all that happens to nicklesilver rail, and a solvent and rubbing removes it successfully. I tried a brightening solution named Tarnex and really brightened the rails right up like new. Then the plastic tie strip turned to mush! I also tried Muratic Acid, and got the brass rails clean OK, but they continued to corrode after that. We tried everything from soda to paint, but it seemed nothing would remove the acid residue. We finally had to throw away the section of test track. One thing I learned from my Dad was, ALWAYS use a section of "test" track (not mounted to the layout), before applying any process to your layout rail! That will prevent you having to replace track on the layout. [ 19. December 2002, 15:32: Message edited by: watash ]
Just recently in Model Railroader, they had an artical about track cleaning using Silver Polish. It doesn't scrap the rails as sand paper or even, yes it true, a Brite Boy. I'm not sure how well it will cut really grimmey rail, but give it a try. Of couse, a Brite Boy is alot better for you rails than sand paper.
I have always used a spray can of television tuner cleaner, (available at any Radio Shack). Just spray it on the cleaning surface of your Centerline cleaning car, not on the plastic ties. After that, I would dab a little Wahl Oil on both rails and back a train over it all the way through the section I was cleaning. I have been amazed at how long the Wahl Oil keeps the track clean and operable, even without wiping it down!
Bill you just jogged my memory! We did use 3-in-1 oil back in the days when we only had three rail Lionels and the tin plate wore off our rail tops. When the bare steel began to rust, we always sanded the rust off, then wiped a film of the oil on to help prevent rush from coming back. We also lost some traction, which as kids we enjoyed because we could get the drivers to spin like the real engines did occasionally. Now I use LPS spray that we clean PC boards with to remove soldering flux. It also cleans the pure gold contacts leaving no residue at all. It will remove all grime from engine drivers, but leaves then devoid of any oil or grease, and is expensive to waste on any job that can be performed some other way.
I like the simple ways the best. A BRIGHT BOY and ELBOW GREASE seems to work the best. The Centerline track cleaning cars do the job, I use them in pairs, one car with with a wet roller(cleaning solution), and a second car behind it with a dry roller to remove any cleaning solution left on the rails. I have several home made cars that use a MASONITE BLOCK to clean the rails. The cars are real easy to make and very lo-cost. Just take a boxcar, drill two holes in the center line. Each hole should be towards the end of the car. Make sure you leave room for the trucks to swing. Take a piece of MASONITE, the smooth side up and the rough side on the rail head. make it's size so it car fit under the boxcar, across both rails. Angle the ends so the block doesn't catch on switches. Take two framing nails and glue the nailheads to the smooth side of the MASONITE block, so the nails will go through the holes you drilled in the floor of the boxcar. The nails will put weight on the block to keep it on the rails, the bigger nail you can use the better. You might have to cut off the ends of the nails to get clearance inside the boxcar. After using the block for awhile, you can throw it away, make a new block for the car and start all over again. I don't use any oil on the rail at all. Sometimes you will hear of putting "CLIPPER OIL" on the rails. Some times people say "WD 40" also. I don't use either. Oil is for lubrication, not track cleaning. I found that the "CLIPPER OIL" will cause dirt and dust to stay on the rail, and build up on your engine and car wheels.
Hi Guys, Hope you had a good Holiday Season. Would anyone know about or have any info on the new track cleaning cars put out by MNP (Many New Products) These cars have motor driven pads that spin on the rail and clean as you pull the car around your layout. These are fairly new, but the theory seems to make sense. Ant comments??? Happy New Year Ron
Mark, I use Wahl clipper oil on my track and have done so for years. This is an extremely thin medium which protects the rail and drive wheels of a locomotive like nothing else I have ever found. My pike is in a full basement where I also do some wood working. There is always lots of dust in the air. However, even if I do not run a train for a month or two, they will always run smoothly even without wiping the rail clean. I don't know how or why it works, but I am truly amazed with this product! If there is any driver slip, it is so minimal I can't see it, or hear it, and I pull some fairly long trains. I'm not putting you down for not wanting to try "oil" .. just letting you know my personal experience with it. Wayne, I use that LPS for cleaning my guns. I have never thought of using it on my rails! It's food for thought though.
Goo-Gone, available at Home Depot. Never use oil. It could degrade the plastic over time and ruin any scenery. Russ
Now, here's a radical idea (and an expensive one, but it can be stretched out over time): Replace the plastic wheels on your rolling stock with metal wheels. Apparently the plastic (Delrin?) wheels can leave a layer of crud on the rails over time. Metal doesn't- also, it rolls better (in my experience). But that's a topic for another thread....... Besides, I've also used a vary small bit of gun oil to clean loco wheels, and tried a tiny bit on the rails (not having any Wahl clipper oil), and it seemed to work when I used it. I still just use a Qtip and 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean the gunk off the rails (and the paint off the top after I've finished painting the rails).
what alot of ideas. Okay now is my long winded version i use brass track first of all. Now i had some 40 year old track that looked in pretty bad shape. i used a brite boy on the top and inside edge of the rails. Came out clean as a whistle and a cotton towel to wipe down. No liquid track cleaner, no oil etc. Now that was to clean some dirty pieces. On the layout i use the brite boy when the track gets dirty and afterwards i go around the track with this caboose car that has a buffer on the bottom and a plastic tank on top filled with liquid track cleaner (from your LHS). This way any filings from the brite boy are cleaned away. And thats it
