How do you clean your track???


How you clean your track?

  • Liquid with a cloth (rubbing)

    Votes: 11 30.6%
  • Track cleaning car

    Votes: 6 16.7%
  • "Eraser"

    Votes: 12 33.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 7 19.4%

  • Total voters
    36
Hey thanks Grande Man, I have wanted to buy a track cleaner, but didn't want to pay 100.00 for the other one ;) That won't be bought until I get some track on :D
Chris
 
Huh odd.

Hummm, steel wool, sounds deadly. I'd think it would leave scratches which will pick up more dirt.
 
:eek: Whoaaaaa Nelly!!!:eek:
Watch out for steel wool! Man, I did that in the early days and only once and had problems for a year. The steel fibers will get loose and the magnets on the loco motor will pick them up. They will end up screwing up the pickups and just about everything else. The ony way I finally got all of them picked up was with a very strong magnet and many times going back and forth over the track.;)
 
steel wool! Man,
What Rex says, good advice, a definite No! No! Use the advice given by the other members in this thread. Get a strong magnet and go over the track area where you used the steel wool

smiley-cheers.png
Willis
 
I original used bright boys... to abrasive. Onky on real REAL bad sections. I try not to let the track get that bad. If it's just "regular" dirt I use an old T-shirt and rubbing 70% alcohol... isopropyl, not Jack Daniels:D . Once I clean it really well I hit it with a coat of CRC 2-26. I spray it on some of the T-shirt and rub it on the rails. This is the best stuff out there. You can apply it to any electrical contact areas, it's like lubrication for electricity. It has improve the performance of my engines all around.

In other words... I love he stuff!
 
I always used an eraser to clean my tracks, its smooth on them and leaves no residue or leftovers that can be picked up my magnets, even though its always advised to clean with a vacuum or brush after using eraser.

I also took a PECO eraser cut it lenght wise ( flat part ) in half and attached 2 nails on the rough side of it with epoxy glue, then took the measurements of the nails and drilled 2 holes on the bottom side of a long box car, and fitted it in there (it makes pressure on the raisl with its own wieght) and it cleans the track as it is pulled, only one drawback, on small curves it only cleans the inside rail.

I will post a picture of it tomorrow (hopefully)
 
I was using Brasso and it did a great job but a fellow member here advised me that residue can build up on the loco/car wheels. Well he was absolutely right, so no more Brasso for me.

Mark
 
Ok, here is my home made rail cleaner, I think most of you might know this method, but I'll post it just the same.



As you might see, the underside of the eraser (top pic) has the rails marking on it, the dirt that has been collected.
 
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Hello all. Here are several things I use all the time.

I run my track cleaning car anytime I am testing cars or working on different areas. This way I dont have to when viewers show up. Run it often and you will be surprised how clean things stay.

IHC HO scale Action Car #4357. I changed the felt pad with a CHIX plus and I use alcohol in that. About $20 at LHS.

I run a gondola in front of the IHC car with a magnet on the bottom just above the rails.

I use erasers but the peelings need vacuuming but are good on spots where construction is going on. I use several kinds of erasers from gum to drafting to coarse abrasive depending on what got on there.

I recently found that coffee filters work great with alcohol and gives you many surfaces to turn to.

Goof Off and Goo Gone work great on trouble spots. Both leave a residue and I recommend using alcohol afterwards.

Brasso and steel wool are definately a No No as many have said.

Also scotchbrites or the like are not good. They actually are the middle step in refinishing some brass products I have dealt with. The next step in the instructions I followed doing this said make sure you buff well with a buffer to remove the scratches you cant see. Sound like a dirt collector to me.

Good Luck and keep it clean. Tom
 
I use two MDC track cleaners, one powered pulling a dummy and they do a very good job of picking up the dirt. Every so often I will clean the pads off with a little Alcohol so the pads last quite awhile.

I've got a third one comming I picked-up on ebay, at least the guy selling claimed it was a track cleaner.
 
They key to cleaning track is not to make it shiny but to make it conductive. All the methods described (excluding steel wool) will safely clean the track and will work for various periods of time. What I've found works well is Radio Shack Tuner Cleaner and Lubricant. $10 a can and you only need a short squirt ahead of a locomotive and let it run it around the track for you. If you have a turnout that's giving you trouble, a short squirt and working the turnout back and forth will usually fix the problem. What it won't do is make your tracks nice and shiny. I have sections of track that are almost black and trains run through there just as well as a section I just cleaned with a Bright Boy. If you want your tracks shiny, I'd advise you to go over them once a year with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Wheel Cleaner. In between, use the RS spray and I think you'll find things run with a lot less grief.
 



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