I recenlty aquired trains and track stored since 1978. Needless to say, the track is tarnished and the locomotives are dirty and do not run very well. I am very new at this and woulod like to know the best way to clean all of this up, there is a large amount of track. Are there any inherent problems with joining the old to new track?
My other question concerns the couplers on the rolling stock. They don’t all match up to the new stock I have. What are some of my options other than replacing all of the old stock?
The scale of the trains that you are looking at influences a lot as to the answers to your questions. I will give you some answers based on my knowledge of HO trains, some of which is relavent to any scale.
One thing that would help is what color is the rail of the track. Reason for that is the diffrent materials clean differently. If it is a brown color, that’s brass which is not used for modern track as it is hard to clean and tends to tarnish easily. (Think about cleaners like Brasso, etc.) Given the age, most likely it will be brass. I would try the Brasso with a sponge or something that will not scratch the track which would only make it get dirty faster. The other option, depending on how much work you are willing to put in, would be a Bright Boy track cleaner. It looks like an eraser but is for cleaning track.
Depending on what type of engines you have, it might be an idea to carefully disassemble the running gear. It’s highly possible that the running gear has old grease caked in it, which can cause the wheels to stall and not run. Another tool to get is a Kadee wheel cleaner. This can be hooked up to a section of powered track and cleans any powered metal wheels on an any engine, whether it is steam or diesel.
As to the second question, are the couplers not matching up on height or style of coupler? Are the couplers truck mounted or are they mounted on the body? Not knowing these answers, I would suspect that the couplers are most likely what are called X2Fs or hook-horns. The simplest if you wish to use the old stock would be to change them to Kadee couplers. As most of the couplers are metal knuckles, they can take a bit more abuse than the plastic knockoffs. They also can be adapted to many different mounting situations. (Both vertical height [z] and coupler length. The x and z are from 3-dimensional coordinates.)
I had boxes of trains that had been in storage since the late 1960s.
My old track was brass. I bought all nickel-silver track for my current layout, and I’m convinced that was the right decision. I took the old brass track to a train show and gave it to a dealer.
I tried to get a few of my old engines running, but when I compared the running qualities of new engines with the old ones, it was clear that I wouldn’t be happy with them. I turned several of them into dummy engines, some with sound, and I’m happy with them now.
Most of my old rolling stock is rolling once again. I’ve replaced all the old horn-hook couplers with modern Kadee knuckles, all the plastic wheels with metal and many of the old trucks with new ones as well. That’s where I felt the investment in parts and time were worth it.
Some of those older engines can be made to run like new but,if they are the “trainset” type like Life Like,Tyco or Bachmann then I suggest buying new replacement locomotives.
Before yelling "Charge! with charge card in hand I highly suggest you take in the following:
Layout size
Degree of the curves you will be using-18",22" 24" etc… In short the sharper the curve the smaller locomotive and cars will be the better choice-that beautiful 4-8-8-4 or SD80MAC won’t work on a sharp curve.
Start with the track. It ought to have plastic ties, the really old fiber ties won’t stand water. A wash in hot soapy water, followed by a clean water rinse, and though drying (over night) will make the stuff look better. Tarnish on the rails, for yellow brass rail, a supermarket brass polish/cleaner like Brasso works. For nickel silver rail (silvery white luster) I wipe it down with a rag moistened with Goo Gone. Steel rail (if it rusts, it’s steel) or aluminum rail (white matte looking surface) have to be cleaned with abrasives (Steel wook, sandpaper, Scotchbright). A touch of oil helps on steel rail. You only need to polish the rail heads, the sides of real rail out in the weather, quickly turned rust brown. Plan on buying new rail joiners, they don’t cost much, and new ones will conduct electricity more reliably than old bent out of shape ones. Nickel silver is the most desirable rail. Brass is the wrong color (yellow) and tarnishes more quickly than nickel silver, but we all used it up until the 1960’s. It works. Steel rail is difficult to solder, and it rusts, but it’s usable. Aluminum is the least desirable rail, it doesn’t look very much like steel and it is impossible to solder it.
All plastic, injection moldel cars can stand the hot soapy water wash, rinse and dry. Old fashioned horn-hook X2f NMRA couplers can be replaced with Kadee couplers. Replacement Kadee’s will cost you couple of dollars car. Kadee makes a zillion differment styles of coupler, one to fit anything manufactured over the last 60 years. There is a massive “what-fits-what” list on the Kadee website and inside the big Walther’s catalog.
Locomotives that have been stored for many years, usually need their wheels cleaned and taken apart, all old lubricant cleaned out, reassembled, and perhaps upgraded to Kadee couplers. The lubricants dry ou
Hi there, thanks for all the info. The trains are HO scale so you guessed correctly. The coupleres on the older stock are monuted on the car bodies themselves in a socket. Am I correct in thinking these can be drilled out and replaced with new and differnt ones, the old trucks (different styles) can be replaced with new truckss? This can save me some money, but I"m leaning they may not be worth it as the bodies and frames are all plastic. This is such a great hobby, there is som much to learn. Thanks to all of you out there who responded with tips and ideas. Happy trails.
Hi there, thanks for all the info. The trains are HO scale so you guessed correctly. The coupleres on the older stock are monuted on the car bodies themselves in a socket. Am I correct in thinking these can be drilled out and replaced with new and differnt ones, the old trucks (different styles) can be replaced with new truckss? This can save me some money, but I"m leaning they may not be worth it as the bodies and frames are all plastic. This is such a great hobby, there is som much to learn. Thanks to all of you out there who responded with tips and ideas. Happy trails.
For body mounted old fashioned couplers, you ought to be able unscrew or pry off the coupler box lid with an Xacto knife. You should not need a drill to get the old coupler out. After installing Kadee couplers, you want to avoid using glue to secure the coupler box lid. You want to use screws, 2-56 self tapping are good, to secure the coupler. This way you can remove and replace a broken coupler in the future without making a mess.
I never (well hardly ever) replace trucks on bargain cars. I will replace the wheels, with metal wheels should the original plastic wheels be unsatisfactory. I do paint the trucks while I have the car apart, either grimy black or rust red. Or dark gray auto primer or red auto primer from a rattle can. And I brush paint the wheel faces grimy black or oily black on old fashioned friction bearing trucks and dirt color on modern roller bearing trucks.