Just wondering what you all use to clean wheels and track. I’ve been using rubbing alcohol on the track but the dirt won’t come off of the wheels on the engine I picked up.
MolsonFL
There are many liquid cleaning products , dry & paste for HO modelers.
Also cleaning cars like the centerlinewww.centerline-products.com($64.00), Tony’s clean machine ($99.00),http://www.ttx-dcc.com/technews/clean_machine.htm and the Aztec Annihilator www.aztectrains.com($124.00)
These three are the cream of the crop. I did own the centerline and traded up to the clean machine. At the time the Annihilator was not available.
My layout is not huge or complexed less than 200’, single deck and all is almost in reach.
Therefore the above cleaning machines are not manatory on my layout…
I now use the $3.00 MAAS paste, www.maasinc.com MR Jan 2003.
I have retired Tony’s clean machine and it is up for sale.
I apply the paste as follows using T-Shirt material in short strips.
Get a small block of wood, about the size of a brite boy or use the brite boy it self(I DO)
Wrap the strip of T-Shirt material arount the block or BB, apply the paste to the material .
Drag the treated material along the track at an angle.
Allow it to SLIGHLY dry and then with a non-treated T_Shirt material wipe it off.
Using the small block or BB limits the excess paste from getting on everything else.
You can use the same idea in cleaning wheels.
Put a treated strip down on the tracks.
Postion one truck on the material, the other truck on bear rail.
Throttle up your pack, hold loco slighty above rail allowing the spinning wheels to touch the treated material.
Same procedure for the second truck and then untreated material to wipe excess off.
I use this method on locos that have 'nt been cleaned in 34 years. W O W!
GOO Gone works well for those isolated gunky areas.
I use a Peco cleaning block on my track when it gets really dirty. As for locomotive wheels i use a blue liquid made by LIFE LIKE. All you have to do is dip the end of a rag or anything else in the liquid and rub it on the locomotives weels. Also works on track and removing dirt on freight car weels.
Shaun CN
Have you tried Lux Modellbau? This is a small German supplier specialising in this topic - especially if you have tunnels and Catenary!
I use Tarn-X found at all grocery stores. It is intened for cleaning silver but works on all metals. Don’t use on plasic what ever you do. I have all metal wheels on my HO fleet. If you have used blacken-it or other metal blackening products note that it will remove the black. I use it to turn the tops of my rails silver again on my main lines. It removes all the gunk and oils off and makes an incredible contact for electrons to move through. I use a block of wood with heave duty papertowls one clean does it for 6 plus months.
Ross
Spokane, WA
I am glad that there are more modelers finding out about the metal poli***o clean the track. I have 2700ft of track and this has almost ended any track cleaning for me unless I make too much dust when working on the layout. Just had a Mini OP this past Saturday and the layout ran great. There were only 2 areas that I had not cleaned the track in (due to lack of time) and I could tell then the trains entered this area.
For those in doubt (as I was) just borrow some from the wife and try a small section. I did and still have not had to clean the track. And as a side benefit the engine wheels don’t have to be cleaned as often.
Bob H Clarion, PA