I have always just used 95% alcohol on cloths and in my little brass tanker rail cleaning car. Saw someone swear by lacquer thinner. Just now with a swipe test, it did seem the lacquer thinner took off more dirt.
This has probably been discussed before. But I’d be grateful for opinions.
(Yes I know about the medical cautions and ventilation cautions with the thinner…and the explosive properties of each. Notwithstanding, which do you prefer?)
Thanks.
Lacquer thinner is a little more aggressive than alcohol and will be better at removing any oily or greasy residues. I use 91% isopropyl alcohol for routine cleanings and about once a year use lacquer thinner for a “deep clean”.
Joe
I prefer Metal Polish and only having to do it once to my layout!
Having to clean 3600 feet of track every 2 weeks would be impossible!
I Polished my track way back in 2003 and have not had to do a general cleaning since!
Maybe a local cleaning when doing Scenery or painting track but no where else!
I prefer running my train instead of cleaning track! 
Mothers Mag Wheel Polish or Blue magic is what I used. Just a very light coat on polish on a piece of cork and run a section of track - polish the rails with a clean piece of cork and you are done!
Can’t get much easier!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I have a CMX track cleaning car, and I use lacquer thinner. I clean my track 3 or 4 times a year. Having tried both, I think the lacquer thinner does a better job.
Yep, GLEAM worked for me too. I used the Blue Magic metal polish.
Hi Cisco Kid
I would be very reluctant to use a thinner of any kind safety considerations aside.
Some thinners have a very nasty effect on the track and usually you don’t know which brand is bad until it is to late.
I use an old Triang track cleaning car with methylated spirits to clean my track and very occasionally a Peco track cleaning block.
I have nothing to back it up but it seems the more metal wheels on the track the less cleaning you need to do
I also don’t favour abrasive cleaners as they can leave scratches to hold the dirt this is also probably a throw back, to when track was brass or sherardized steel and you did not want to damage the sherardizing or brass rail
regards John
Use no plastic wheels
Thanks all. Yes I remember all the posts about mag wheel polish some time ago. We don’t have those particular brand names here, and I am leery of using an unknown mag wheel polish…are they all about the same?
I have polished my track in the past and gleamed it and burnished it with a super smooth stainless block…but it still needs attention, and I rather think all track does, regardless of claims to the contrary.
Now, I have used a few plastic wheelsets still…(about 5% of the rolling stock) but I am not going to any longer. Time to switch the last dozen cars over.
Methylated spirits…yup, that is what I have been using…and I see today, a test wipe shows it leaves behind materials picked up by the lacquer thinner afterward. But I don’t really want to run lacquer thinner over the couple of rerailers and the painted level crossing boards…those are going to become smudged and partly melted for sure.
What about paint thinner…the nice odourless one from the art supply store that II use on the layout workbench painting projects?
You can say what you will, but running standards like building standards are different for each modeler. I don’t care how much you gleam your track, dust still settles on the track, fact! Another fallacy is that plastic wheels are bad, they don’t help but they don’t make it any dirtier either (a chemist did an analysis of track crud and found it came from standard arching of the engine. Now true, the arching may be less with gleaming but no one has done a study. It is time we came out of the dark ages in this hobby and dealt with proven facts only. If someone proves that gleaming works, I will do it. As for standards, every engine needs to crawl around the layout, wish the RTR ran as well as my MDC shay I built which runs at a tie a minute.
ditto. That has been my experience with gleaming and burnishing.
I use denatured alcohol – it evaporates fast and does an excellent job of cleaning. I have found isopropyl leaves a residue and thinner will eat ties and plastic wheel sets. We switched to denatured alcohol at the club I belong to – we went from cleaning the track 2-3 times during an open house to only once, and that is before the open house.