I had read an artical in MR, where a train club had used Automatic Transmission Fluid on the tracks to improve conductivity. I think they said that they would paint about 2 inches of track and then run the engines over it.
Have any of you folks tried this and if so how did it work? Also how much do you need to put down and how much track will it cover?
Thanks for the help.
Ken
Ken,
Yes, I’ve heard of it, never tried it. Use a very tiny amount is the word.
I use CRC 2-26 myself, based on the recommendation of a narrowgauge friend who is a MMR. Spray a little in a cup, then daub a cork in it and spread it on CLEAN rails. Let it dry overnight to a dull finish. This finish is not the all-shiny many seek, but is more realistically steel-like to the eye of a lot of us.
If you want to try the ATF, I’d suggest also making sure the track is clean. Otherwise, the crud starts to float and spread when you hit it with almost any type of cleaner or oil. And a cork sounds like it’s worth a try. ATF is more viscous than CRC 2-26, but a cork will help spread it. Get a 4 or 5 unit lashup going to spread it around from the section where you apply it.
There has been discussions about using ATF, Wahl Clipper Oil/etc over the years. Painting about two inches seems a little excessive though. Back in my old DC days, I did put a couple of drops of clipper oil on my layout tracks(per an RMC article) and saw immediate improvement. If you put too much on, your trains will slip and not be able to climb grades(I did that too). The problem with most of these electrical ‘enhancements’ is that the amount of ‘crud’ slowly increases and you eventually have to ‘clean’ your track. I admit that when I did this, I still had lots of plastic wheeled freight cars. They seemed to collect this ‘crud’ and spread it around, Eventually the crud built up on the wheels and was very hard to remove.
I now have all metal wheels on my cars, and I clean the track with a CMX track cleaning car(expensive, but it works). Loaded with isopropyl alcohol or lacquer thinner it really does a fine job. I use a ‘Brite Boy’ abrasive pad as well. With metal wheels, I rarely get any crud on the wheels. My home layout gets the CMX treatment about 3 times/year. Our club usually gets the CMX treatment about once every month.
Jim
Thanks for the info,
I have a DC layout and thought this might be a neat way to keep things rolling.
I was just a little concerned about the ATF, its a little messy.
Thanks again
We’ve used ATF occasionally on our large HO scale club layout by spreading a very small amount with a cotton swab about every 10 feet or so in front of a long train, and letting the train spread it around.
Just wipe an inch or so with the swab every 10 or so feet in front of a running train if you want to try it. The key to this is apply it in moderation.
But like jrbernier advises, we use a CMX Clean Machine loaded with lacquer thinner followed by a dry Centerline track cleaning car about every two weeks to really keep the track clean.
Thanks for the help.
I’m going to have to give it a try. All I have now is just the track layed and it will be easier to clean if it doesn’t work out.
Ken
Model railroaders have been debating the notion of oiling the track since forever. I can remember a Rail Model Craftsman article from the 1960’s advocating the practice. A lot of ink has been spilled on both sides over the ensuing fifty years. Me, I’m neutral on the issue. I don’t oil my own track so I cannot say whether it works or not. The RMC article said that any kind of oil worked, didn’t have to be anything fancy.
If you try it, and find you don’t like it, you can always clean the track and get back to where you started.
Let us know how things work out for you.
I’ve used it and it works great. As previously stated, use a very small amount. It greatly improves performance, especially if it’s a club Open House and several members bring cars with very dirty wheels. Even will all the dirt, trains still ran fine.
I suppose it is technically “oiling” the track, but the effect is very different. ATF is a conductor of electricity when applied in a very thin layer, and it holds the normal dirt build up on the rails in a conductive suspension. Putting machine oil on the rails would decrease performance since oil does not effectively conduct electricity. Real railroads use oilers to lubricate wheel flanges near sharp curves to reduce wear. On model railroads, the practice of oiling is totally unnecessary.
S&S
Thanks everyone for the great inputs.
I am going to gve it a try, but I propably should clean the tracks and wheels first… My Grandaugter has been running my engine a lot this summer, plus I live on a dirt road so there is lots of dust.
Thanks again, will post how it works.
Ken
That sums it up nicely in terms of this being an issue that’s been around the block, David.
I never tried just any oil, always being a skeptic and having concerns about traction and accumulation of either the oil or what it lifted off the rail.
But I was eventually convinced to try CRC 2-26 because it’s specially designed for use in applications like this. It’s a lubricant, but one designed for use in electrical contacts. I don’t know what special properties that might have, except that whatever the lubricant is, it’s likely designed to leave as little as possible behind when it “burns” when arcing occurs between the wheel and track. This is not to diss on “any kind of oil” – which may turn out to not have any problems vs CRC 2-26 – but just noting that it makes sense to use something designed for electrical circuits rather than automatic transmissions if that’s all the info we have to go on.
About six months before decommissioning my last layout, I decided it was time to get some personal experience with this topic. The grades were sometimes in the 3.3% range, so nothing to sneeze at. I didn’t just dab two linear inches with something and let the trains do the rest, either. I dabbed some Dextron Mercon III ATF in about eight or ten places along my single main, and THEN let the trains do the rest.
I never did have a major problem with ‘drop out’ electrically on my layout, so I can’t say there was a dramatic improvement in train responsivenes to the track power. But, I can tell you that the predicted slipperiness and gunk build-up never happened for me. In fact, it was as if I hadn’t done a thing.
[:|]
Crandell
Been Using ATF for a few years now. Even to the point when the club was running at shows, eventually, we would have an engine, maybe not stalling, but the headlight would be flickering. A drop or 2 on each rail, the train passes over, and the headlight is instantly fixed !
Each train also had all metal wheels, which also seems to stay cleaner, longer.
This morning I wiped the dust off the tracks and tried ATF. A very noticeable improvement. I can now get the engine moving at very slow speeds. I did not clean the wheels on the engine and just ram a rag around the track. I needed to put about an inch of ATF for every 4 foot to 5 foot of track. I used a Q tip with very little ATF on it to apply the ATF.
Thanks everyone for the help.
Ken
Does anyone know the issue of MR in which the Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) article appeared? I have searched the MR electronic index using both those terms and have come up with zero. Grrrrr. (I recall having read the article and being impressed with the testing methods the club used.)
Will appreciate your help.
JHF
Heard from Jenny at MR. The article is in the May 2011 issue. Thanks, Jenny!
Ken
Our Club used the ATF and Wal Clipper Oil for a number of years!
We never liked cleaning the tracks and would just put the OILs on the tracks and the Trains would run great!
This went on for a number of years as we were continuing to build the Club Layout.
Anytime we needed to have a show - OIL the track and the Trains ran GREAT!
This WORKED!
UNTIL!
The rolling Stock began DERAILING occasionally (usually at a Turnout) - but we just ignored the occasional problems and kept going!
Then the Cars began Derailing in the middle of a Straight Section of Track !
Real Regular!
We finally began looking at the cars and found that the wheels had NO FLANGES left!
The OIL had caused the wheels to pick up enough DIRT that clung to the wheels from the OIL that the DIRT collected up to the level of the wheel flange!
It was easy enough to remove using an X-acto knife and just begin scraping the dirt off and the dirt ring came off like an O-Ring!
Once the Club Members found this problem and HAD TO CLEAN Hundreds of Cars of this dirt build up - they NEVER tried that trick again!
We then tried the Metal Polish on the Rails and have NEVER had to clean the track again!
I did this first on my home layout with over 3600 feet of track and Polished the rails with the Mothers Mag Wheel Polish back in 2003!
I have YET to CLEAN any track since!
Your Choices - But this is First hand experience from 25 years as a member in a Model Railroad Club!
BO
Automatic Transmission Fluid does not mean that you don’t have to clean the tracks - it just makes it less necessary to clean them and it evenly distributes the dirt. If you run a track cleaning car or two, it will keep the dirt level down. Just be sure to clean/change the pads regularly!
S&S