I used som home depot noalox on my old club's layout and failed to wipe it up after. Despite being meant for aluminum, it worked wonders. No electrical contact problems at all. The downside is that the residue left by not wiping it up was disgusting, but it conducted electricity fine it was only a visual problem really.
I have been reading about NO-OX for some time now. Yesterday, I decided to order some and see what happens. I figure the combination of this stuff and the occasional running of the CMX clean machine I should be golden?
mtaylor: I'm not sure. I don't know enough about No-Ox to answer properly. While No-Ox, I believe, will solve your electrical contact issues relative to the track, it may not solve other problems. No- Ox does not change the layout environment for dust and dirt and it doesn't solve engine electrical pickup issues. It will help with metal wheels on electrical pickup, but if the engine is only powered from one truck, for example, No-Ox will not help. I don't know if the CMX cleaner "disturbs" the track surface that has been treated with No-Ox. I do think No-Ox will help your situation if properly applied.
I really do not have any particular situation other than being lazy and not wanting to clean the track very often. As it is now I have only cleaned the track twice since October and currently have no real issue. From what I have read, running the CMX cleaner with mineral spirits (lacquer thinner) will not impede on the benefits of no-ox.
No-Ox and Track Dusting Mandatory and a Question FWIW, this thread started in 2009 and the latest post was last march. I am posting here so readers can go back and get other and contrary opinions if they wish. I am using No-Ox on my N scale Peco code 55. The last time I ran my layout was around Feb 2012 and the last time I cleaned my track was March 2010 when I used No-Ox. I have been running my trains lately and tried it without cleaning the track. Disaster! There is so much accumulated dust and lint that the engine wheels become coated in short order. I thought the problem was the No-Ox so I took two pictures and tested the engines. Long story short, the engines ran fine after I vacuumed the track with the shop vac. I'm glad I don't have to reapply the No-Ox but I do have to seriously vacuum all the track. Here are before and after pictures. Before vacuum; lots of dust. Same area of track after vacuum. Footnote: The portion of the track most affected seems to be the switch points. I have to clean them carefully to ensure electrical contact. Next point: This is a view of the railhead on my club H0 scale layout. What are all the spots? We rarely clean the track and it seems to work fairly well.
