PrairieKnight
Active Member
All,
I am at that point in my layout to where everything is up and running and I am taking my time with the scenery, structures and coupler issues as they rear their ugly head. Along with that comes the never ending task of cleaning track and rolling stock/locomotive wheels. I am very fortunate for the fact that I have a couple hobby shops in the area that I can go to for advice and suggestions. On the subject of track cleaning I was told that a Bright Boy abrasive track cleaner is the best. Another gentleman at a different hobby shop said that in his experience he has found small particles of Bright Boy in the gears of locomotives that are brought to him with performance problems. This particular gentleman suggested a cloth with 70% alcohol wiped over the rails.
I am wondering what others have experienced and what they are doing to clean track and wheels. I plan on purchasing a more expensive DCC locomotive in the future and do not want to see anything get into the gears. At this point i am thinking that I should use the Bright Boy and then go back over the track with the alcohol/cloth mixture. For the wheels on rolling stock and engines, I saw on Youtube where the best way is to soak a paper towel and lay it on the track. Then run/push rolling stock over the soaked cloth.
So..... keeping in mind I am running a 4 X 8 DCC layout with two engines and 15 rolling stock:
1. How often do you clean your track and wheels?
2. What methods do you find works the best for cleaning both?
I am at that point in my layout to where everything is up and running and I am taking my time with the scenery, structures and coupler issues as they rear their ugly head. Along with that comes the never ending task of cleaning track and rolling stock/locomotive wheels. I am very fortunate for the fact that I have a couple hobby shops in the area that I can go to for advice and suggestions. On the subject of track cleaning I was told that a Bright Boy abrasive track cleaner is the best. Another gentleman at a different hobby shop said that in his experience he has found small particles of Bright Boy in the gears of locomotives that are brought to him with performance problems. This particular gentleman suggested a cloth with 70% alcohol wiped over the rails.
I am wondering what others have experienced and what they are doing to clean track and wheels. I plan on purchasing a more expensive DCC locomotive in the future and do not want to see anything get into the gears. At this point i am thinking that I should use the Bright Boy and then go back over the track with the alcohol/cloth mixture. For the wheels on rolling stock and engines, I saw on Youtube where the best way is to soak a paper towel and lay it on the track. Then run/push rolling stock over the soaked cloth.
So..... keeping in mind I am running a 4 X 8 DCC layout with two engines and 15 rolling stock:
1. How often do you clean your track and wheels?
2. What methods do you find works the best for cleaning both?