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The layout i'm working on right now was my dads and mine from almost 20 years ago, its a 8x12 layout with 2 main loops. When I got it I bought a brite boy and cleaned the track. I've had the layout now for just over a month and it seems I have to clean this thing almost 2 times a week or the locomotives start to hiccup and sometimes even stop on the track. I've been out of the hobby for a while so i'm not sure if this is how things are now but when I was a kid and had this layout at my parents house I don't remember cleaning it that often.
Incase it matters i'm running the locos with DCC with a digitrax zephyr and at the moement I only have 2 locomotives running. My rolling stock is all old stuff from the 80's & 90's and I have about 20 total on the track, 10 on each train.
Just looking for some suggestions on the best way to keep the track clean, or not have to clean it as much if thats possible.
Is the environment it's in particularly dusty?
On your rolling stock, are they using plastic or metal wheels? If plastic, you might consider replacing with metal.
Have you cleaned the loco's wheels and power pickup areas? How about lubing the drive train?
Take a look at the cleaning car from Tony's Train Exchange. You can run it around the layout with an engine and it cleans with a fluid which may do a better job than an abrasive.
I can't say I know for sure, but it would not surprise me to find that DCC is more sensitive to track condition than DC was, given the digital data it's transporting.
The layout is in my basement, not dusty at all and not damp either.
My rolling stock is made up mostly of plastic wheels, some are metal
I have not cleaned the loco's wheels or power pickups. I'm not sure how to get to them since there are no screws on the bottom, I would have to get to them from the inside and the few times I had them apart it didn't look like there was a place to get the wheels out of the housing.
I'll check out the cleaning car as well. **edit** checked out the cleaning car, at that price i'll clean it by hand. WOW.
While the Brite-boy is excellent for removing heavy crud from the rails (such as paint or plaster spilled on it, the abrasive pad will scratch the surface of the track. In addition, many metal model railroad wheels, including the ones that pick up power from the track, are made of sintered metal, which has mircoscopic pits on its surface. As the wheel rolls it causes small sparks to arc from the wheel to the rail, pitting the track. This provides a greater surface area that can oxidize.
What to do???? The simple and very effective solution is to treat the top of the rail with Wahl's Hair Clipper Oil. This stuff is conductive, but prevents a lot of this arcing. I've used it for years, and it really works. Where to get this stuff? Try your barber. But if he/she doesn't have any, Micro-Mark sells it. It isn't very expensive, and A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY! I found a shoe polish applicator with a foam disk attached to a plastic handle. A few drops of Wahl's goes a long way, so don't overdo it. But it will make it easier to keep the track clean and conductive. You can also apply some to the pickup wheels, using a small paint brush or cotton tip (watch out for fibers gumming up the wheels in their trucks).
Using an abrasive pad to keep the track clean? That's not the way to do it. When it comes to having clean track that stays clean, you might want to try this. It was posted by one of the members of the Model Railroader forum. It worked for me. It's called 'GLEAM'.
QUOTE: (Originally posted by Semafore)
I'm talking GLEAM!: ULTRA_SHINY and Smooth rails can now be had with my 'WHAT box?" approach to this conductivity problem. An HO modeller since 1970, I know the problem WELL!
THIS IS A ONE-TIME PROCESS. DO ALL TRACK!!
1] On an appropiate-sized block, use 400 wet/dry paper to remove the extrusion milling left on the railheads. The block must span both rails.
2] Now use 600 or finer, repeat process.
3] Using an appropiate-sized STAINLESS-STEEL piece, apply moderate pressure and BURNISH the rails! The more you slide back and forth, the smoother and shinier the rails become! [ the GLEAM part ]. This is because you have removed the ridges, bumps, and pits. Burnishing helps seal pores with metal, eliminating traps for dirt and tarnish; almost like a MIRROR!
4] [For Bob H.] Use BLUE MAGIC or equivalent metal polish to deep-clean the remaining contaminates.
5] Last, buff the rails to your eye's content!
The shine is 5x more lusterous than just polish alone. The wax left behind is minimal, is not insulating, and virtually eliminates rail cleaning.
This is a process HOT OFF THE PRESSES! [Of my brain] I've only been at it 6 weeks with amazing results! {I just added the wax step today.} prior to that, though, the NS HO rails I'm guinea-pigging (300') sans wax STILL gleams today, with slight tarnishing, so I'm gonna wax 'em next!
I will also try some classic brass rail to see how that stands up.
AND REMEMBER; NO MORE ABRASIVES...EVER!!!!!!
Or you'll just ruin your mirror finish, and will have to gleam and wax AGAIN!
Dry-wipe with paper towel or cotton. You can always polish anytime; wipe away excess.
I've had DCC and DC locos/lash-ups creep at a scale 3-5MPH around the staging level loop 100' with NO STALL or FAULTER. gotta love it
That is well below the average density of feeders to rails in the hobby. For most of us, a feeder only servers about three feet on either side of it, for a total of about 6-8'. You'll get more arcing at gaps and at minor short points near frogs if the voltage is lower than it ought to be for the amperage draw.
I am puzzled continually by the main question of why some users have huge headaches over dirty track and wheel sets while others, including myself, can go weeks between operating sessions and all I ever have to do is to turn on the power and run trains. It must be a local environment thing, perhaps something to do with air quality, with air particulate matter of a certain kind that isn't being filtered by air treatment systems in the home.
Thanks for the info guys. I will add a few more feeders to the rails and see if that helps.
One other question. As I was going over the layout I found there were a few places where the rails didn't join togeather all the way. For example there is some flex track that doesn't connect on one rail and a few other spots where it wouldn't line up right.
The solution may ultimately be to.............wait.
The framing is probably wood, and wood swells and shrinks along the grain when moisture levels change around it. When wood dries, it shrinks, and that will pull the rails back out of some joiner, or partway. Later, next season, it will come back together.
However, you can simple measure and cut another length of flex and insert it with new joiners.
Probably a cutoff wheel in a rotary tool. You can cut it by hand, but you'll probably need to file the ends afterwards.
If the gap is just a few mm, you can just solder it up and file it smooth rather than ripping up track. However, if the layout contracts (heat and humidity, again), the track may buckle.
It isn't the heat, it's the humidity. One hundred feet of solid, no gap, code 100 N/S rail in HO scale will expand about 1/4" over that entire length with a rise in temperature of 30 deg F. Cut two gaps and use two joiners anywhere in that length and you have that expansion covered.
So, it is the frame expansion and shrinkage with humidity changes that result in opened gaps and buckled track when things change...not heat.
Just a thought as I have a lot of older track myself.
But check for corrosion around the joins. Any dirt/grim there may be enough to lose contact as the engine rolls over. Also make sure there is a tight fit at your joins.
I had a track problem with a switch the other day that we've all seen..corrosion at the rivets.
engine stops and a slight push on the rivet fixes it, right?.
I took a small dab of soldering flux, resin not acid and put it all over and around the rivet, then a few drops of alcohol, I figure if it kills the corrosion and brightens a copper wire, why not?
after it seeped in, I wiped it clean...haven't had a stall there yet.
beats replacing a switch, especially one imbedded in plaster on my waterfront.
