Back after unwanted break w/ Track cleaning tip


I am back I hope after a long unwanted break. The trains are all dusty and the track is a mess. Between the daughters move home from college, several family losses and my crazy work I have been away from the train scene.

I have come up with an interesting way to clean track in a hurry. Soak down a coffee filter with alcohol and go to town. Gives slight abrasion and many surfaces to work. And it doesnt leave the eraser shavings and doesnt shred like cotton.

Anyway Hello to all, Welcome to the Newbies, Join if you are lurking we dont bite, happy holiday to all.

Tom
 
Welcome back, my trains aren't dusty but my track sure is <LOL>! Been weathering my locos and putting decoders in them. Layout has been seriously neglected...
 
Does anyone use Brasso on their rails? We used to use it a lot to clean contacts to new condition in the electronics industry. I've used it on the temporary test loop I have going and it works great.

Mark
 
Be very careful with Brasso, it really cleans but as far as I know Brasso itself has Nitric acid ( very little quantity ), which is how normally Brass is cleaned, which if not cleaned well after it might form some acid dust and be collected with the loco wheels. So be carefull of what products you use.
 
Thanks and brasso can also leave residue and yes dust. If it gets in electrical stuff causes big problems and I dont think you can ever really get it all off.
 
Howdy all!!!! For real dirty rail, I use a track cleaning block first. As for the Brasso,,,, man I hate that stuff, used it enough in shinning my collar brass and other badges in the Army.LOL

I use a metal polish product called ,, Flitz. Works real well with me,,, but I tend to use alot of elbow grease when using it. My old layout that I had,,,17'x 12' N scale,, took me 3 hours to clean every piece of track. Then I took all trucks off my locos,, flitzed the wheels, also checked them for gauge with NMRA gauge.

ALot of work to use a metal polish,,,, but in my mind well worth it,,, I HATE flickering headlights.

As a side note,,, a freind of mine picked up some track cleaning liquid while he was at the national train show,,,,has a oily feel to it when it gets on your fingers,,, but the label says it does not leave a oily residue once on the track. Label also says,,,, excellant for DCC.. Can't remember the name. What has me leary,,,,,, is the label does not listen the ingreidents.

Adios Wyatt
 
I've mentioned this in other post... but I clean the tracks 1st with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Then I follow it up with a coat of CRC's 2-26 electrical lubricant. I'm telling you this combo works wonders. I have a little 4x4' layout I built with my daughter. Because the lack of space in our condo, I keep it out on the deck. It gets rained on, snowed on, extreme heat and cold, I think a bird even left a present on it one time... if you know what I mean. Well, previous to using the 2-26 the thing would oxidize like crazy. I was bright boying it at first, then strictly alcohol only for a while. But now that I found this CRC 2-26, I applied it on about 2-1/2-3 months ago, and just yesterday I ran the trains on it with the kids... NO PROBLEMS AT ALL... well, except for Dad(me) getting all tensed up as my 2yr old son was vigorously grabbing the engines and cars. All survived.

Once again CRC's 2-26... don't leave home without it.
 
Where can you get crc 2-26 electrical lube.

I got it at my True Value Hardware store. I'm the manager there so I have access to a lot of products, even if we don't normally carry them. We never had it on our shelves until I read about it on the Modelrailroder site. I brought it in on the next truck load and have stocked it ever since.

The True Value SKU# 596703
MFG# 02005

View attachment 7286

I hope this helps.
 
There are some synthetic lubricants and spray that dries and does not leave an oily slippery residue. I use some of this stuff whenever I clean my guns. It's made by Amsoil, let me see what exactly this stuff says about whether it would be possible to use on tracks or not. Got me curious now, I'll let you guys know in the next day or two.
 
Well its not a good idea cleaning guns with somethign that dries up :S

I used to work as gunsmith and also used to make blueing and refurbishing of firearms :) so beleive me when I tell you the more moist the better preserved they are. I have a gun barrel which I did bluing myself, has been oiled and wrapped in plastic for over 5 years ( when Plastic is the worst thing to wrap metal in ), and not a drop of rust on it. Well this applied to normaly shotgun blueing, the military type has a different process :)

Anyway, I don't like much chemicals that dry up, cause when drying they normally leave some kind of residue.

But that's me :D
 
That oil I use just to help protect the outer barrel from fingerprints. I have other stuff I use for the actual moving mechanisms. I know this as well because my dad does gunsmithing on the side as well. This stuff doesn't leave a residue.
 
OK :), happy to know what U are doing :), I met so many careless people in my 15 yrs of gunsmithing that I still tell people what to do to protect their equipment :p

Sometimes I would have got guns for repairs covered or full of soil, some other had their inside mechanism full of unburnt gunpowder mixed with grease and oil :S

Well to cut it short all sort of messes
 



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