TRACK CLEANING

[Selector]

So what ways do people use to clean the wheels on the cars

I think many of us have a tube with brass tubing or rods and a whole lotta scale milled lumber for trestles and such. I use remnants of the wood to rub against the tires on my cars. If cut flush, with an appropriate cutter or razor saw (which most of us also have), you simply place one end against the tire tread and turn the axle from the other end. I'm always amazed at what comes off the tires, especially of the few plastic sets I still have here and there.

 

[Kusojiji]

Rapido, Athearn, and Atlas diesels are on my layout

There is some (3 years worth) grime there, but it doesn’t effect loco operation at all ..

Prior to NO-OX, when I was cleaning the tracks with soft white rubber erasers every 3 weeks just to keep the trains running and there was a lot more gunk on the rails…

Yep, those guys have enough power pick ups not to care. I only notice slowdown when the wheels start getting caked. For some reason, my Athearn Genesis SD70M felt it more than my Kato GP35 and the SD70M had a Kato motor transplant and LED board. Must be the difference in the bogies, not as efficient at picking up power (or needing cleaning at the shafts).

 

[westtexjohn]

I use the CRC "Safe for Plastics" contact cleaner on a micro fiber rag. This stuff evaporates pretty quick so I can get about three feet before I have to spray the rag again. This makes for a little my work but the results are well worth the effort.
I recently have laid enough track on the upper level of my layout that I can "run trains" to test. I first just tried to run a couple of locos on DC just for testing. They did not run well at all due to dirty track. After wiping with the CRC cleaner it was like a night and day difference. Trains still run fine now from the cleaning done 6 weeks ago.

Polished rails are much better than scratched rails, so I never use any abrasive type of track cleaner. Using any abrasive on track leaves micro scratches in the rail which are a great place for that "black gunk" to live.
I have a friend who cleans his track with a "Bright Boy" cleaner. He is always griping about how he has to clean his track every time he wants to operate his layout............ go figure. His track cleanings last about 2 to 3 days before needing another cleaning. I have tried to get him to try the CRC cleaner, his answer is "My trains run fine after I do the Bright Boy cleaning". Wheel gunk build-up is also a byproduct of abrasive cleaning.

Track cleaning cars with the block dragging on the rails are fine if the block is covered with with denim, corduroy or other similar fabric that will not snag on points. Just a plane masonite block will work if not weighted to incur scratching on the rails.

Latest recommended cleaning solutions from MRH magazine:

Items with a "strike" line through them are NOT recommended due to other problems associated with them.
Note the WD-40 "CONTACT CLEANER" is much better than the usual WD-40 water displacer/lubricant.
Items with a lower "Dielectric Constant" are best.

Hope this helps....John

 

[Kusojiji]

Thanks! I saw this list earlier and watched Ron's review. I was surprised that IPA wasn't high on the list and have since switched to mineral spirits on everything. The block dragging car has a dccconcepts rubber block that I saw on Larry Puckett's video. I think my rails may be scratched too much by now, though and may be the reason why I have to clean it every day for my 0-4-0, 0-6-0 to run smoothly.

 

[Selector]

Take five minutes each running session and run a large, clean, steel washer over the rails with moderate pressure. Before powering the rails........please. The steel washer will help to smoothen out the rail head bearing surfaces. This is the 'burnishing' process found in 'gleaming' (you can do a google search for the term with 'track cleaning methods.' I admire the work that went into the list above and into its considered revision. I have used all of lacquer thinner, kerosene, mineral spirits, and ATF on my rails and can't say any of them did a poor job...not even the ATF. The two best, AFAIAC, are kerosene and lacquer thinner. This notwithstanding the revision.

 

[Kusojiji]

Anyone have experience with high frequency track cleaners?

Single Track High Frequency Electronic Track Cleaner

Gaugemaster:GMC-HF1 Single Track High Frequency Electronic Track Cleaner - Gaugemaster GMC-HF1

www.gaugemasterretail.com

I heard they work great, only on DC though.