Cleaning brass track?


goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
I have been reading a lot about what to use for keeping brass track clean and from what I have read not one product seems to clean the 3 base problems: Oxidation, debris,grease and grime. All items will clean one of the issues; however, none can lean all three.

Anyway, brass is brass - no matter what it is used for; therefore (and not withstanding debris) can anyone see any reason why good old fashioned, tried and true "BRASSO" would not be a solution for keeping the track clean, shiny and polished? That is what it is designed for, keeping brass clean.

Obviously, if the rails area "mirror polished" that could present a traction issue if you have grades to contend with.
 
Look at No-Ox when you get them cleaned. This has been cussed and discussed elsewhere but it prevents re-gunking. And it's expensive, relatively.
 
Thanks OldGuy, anything that reduces maintenance is probably worth the money. One thing that first came to mind was the effect it might have on the wheels and engines. This (if accurate that is) eases some of those concerns:

Gary is a Model Railroad Train enthusiast. "I applied the NO-OX-ID to my layout 4 years ago, and have experienced skip free running ever since. This is even after periods of no running for as long as a month. I HAVE NOT CLEANED MY TRACK IN 4 YEARS! An added bonus, is that the NO-OX-ID has changed my loco wheels into better conductors, as I have not had to clean them either.
 
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Other than replacing it all w/ nickle silver track, always be pulling a track cleaning car full of a brass cleaning solution. If you're HO scale make it a G scale size car on HO wheelsets. LOL
 
Another "polish" that was touted several years ago was Maas metal polish. It supposedly did the same thing No-Ox did. Our Club tried it and it was a mess to clean up! I never really noticed much difference, as I have to miss the public shows. Can't risk catching something from the crowd.
 
The more I read and see, I am inclined to think that these "anti-oxidants" aren't all that great and cause more problems than they fix. This afternoon I cleaned a spare piece of track using an SOS Pad and water and that seemed to do a very good job. The only thing I found was having to wipe the rails down with a clean piece of paper towel.
 



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