Yes it could be dirt from the wheels, but I not sure. A lot of this "Black Sticky Stuff" appeared while the layout was not in use. It could be that I did not notice it while running the trains. Anyways the cleaning continues. Gary BTW there is no way I can get all my rolling stock on the layout at one time.
I realize I'm replying to an old post but I wanted to chime in with my 2 cents,... I have a ridiculously steep and tight "fantasy" Railroad. Santa and elf gandy dancer the only "car" that can navigate it. I've been plagued with "troublesome" performance, as you might expect. I heard about No-Ox, but had a tube of Ox-Gard, so I tried the Ox-Gard. It made an amazing difference! The little bugger chugs right up the mountain and flies right down, but the car gets gunked up and the tracks are sticky to touch and dirty anything that touches them (like grand-kids). I ordered some No-Ox based on the reports of cleaner track, cleaned up the track and car and applied the No-Ox. Performance worsened to the point of uselessness with the No-Ox. Cleaned and cleaned and just got worse. Applied the Ox-Gard, again, and things are running well. I believe the Ox-Gard gunk is conductive, as others have mentioned, AND it seems to impart some added traction. Much needed on my steep and tight. Note, I applied the No-Ox to an HO loop I threw together as a test, and love the performance, and cleanliness. I'll probably reserve the Ox-Gard for the fantasy layout where I need the added traction. Just my observations, -Steve
NO-OX-ID is a rust preventive for steel and other alloys. NOALOX and Ox-Gard are corrosion preventives for electrical connections with copper or aluminum wire. The two would seem to be totally different products with different chemistries. God knows what will happen if you mix the two.
It would seem that God has allowed the findings to be known by all.:uhoh: One item that has not been shared in this thread, but was alluded to was wheels. I am an N scale guy and it does seem that the locos do have something that wears off over time and this stuff likely ends up spread all over the layout. Makes for another good reason to use a test loop to break in your locos. What about rolling stock? This is about plastic versus metal wheels and I am a believer in metal wheels. I do hope that the metal wheelsets do not have any film on them when new. I have not discovered this. The plastic, in my opinion, are guilty of attracting and spreading anything they roll by or over. Why, not sure. Do they become statically charged as has been suggested by some? So the answer may be to make your product of choice work is a combination of many choices that you find best suites your desires.
Rust is a form of corrosion. Nickel silver track isn't steel, so I wouldn't imagine that a product meant for it would work.
Seems to me what is "working" for me is 1) electrical conductivity 2) "sticktion". The stickiness of the ox-hard helps traction on the gandy and doesn't seem to effect conductivity. Actually seems to enhance conductivity. Cleanliness? That's a different story.
