Yesterday, when reading the forum there was a good question on the ways of cleaning track and wheels. I mentioned how I did it and was asked to explain. So here goes.
It’s a little dark, I needed more front lighting, but these are the supplies. I use Goo Gone and I have not had a problem.
This is an O guage cleaning car and I also have one that’s HO. This is just bigger. It has a weighted roller that goes inside the white cylinder then the roller is placed in the square area of the car. I soak the roller with Goo Gone and pull the car with an engine along the track.
Another method is the car cleaner, this one is by Rocco and it has an abraisive pad on the bottom. I will run this in various consists and clean the tracks while I run trains.
One of the most effective ways for me is the abraisive bar, and I also use an eraser, the big pink thing.
It is easy and I just run these along the railheads and clean the top until they are shiny. I never use sand paper or steel wool. These will pit the railheads and cause dirt to adhere thereby losing conductivity. Also, the steel wool will leave pieces of steel in and around the track and this WILL affect the running of trains and short the engine.
To clean my engines I have a test track that is wired to an MRC unit. I place a piece paper towel over the track soaked with Goo Gone. I place one set of trucks on the track the other over the soaked paper towel