My current setup in the basement tends to get a lot of dust and dirt on the layout (basement is not finished). Every so often, I take pieces upstairs to the kitch for a good cleaning. Recently, I cleaned up two Lionel pennsy freight cars (Lionel LLC issue). I remove the trucks (if screwed on), and all obvious parts (that come off easily). I wa***he bodies in luck warm water, and then dry with a soft cloth. I clean the wheels, and all metal parts get wiped down with a soft cloth that has a touch of light oil on it. This cleans the metal and gives it a protective coating from rust. I then out a drop of light oil on the wheel axels. The knuckels get oiled as well. It makes suck a big difference once they are cleaned up! Its like getting a new car for your favorite loc. What do you do to clean and maintain your locs and rolling stock?
I try not to get them dirty in the first place, but if the do get dusty, I just use a very soft bristled brush, such as a NEW paint brush, and that usually takes care of the problem. This should be done well away from the layout or with a vacuum near by, so as not to recycle the dust.
Introducing moisture is just asking for trouble, even if great care is taken to dry and oil afterwards.
I try to not let the stuff get dirty to start with. Dust is sort of inevitable, even if your train layout is in a finished room. I use a folded piece of acid free paper that covers every train car not in use on my shelves. I also use a very soft small paint brush for routine dusting. And also a piece of scrap soft fleece material.
Joe, you might try using one of those painter’s plastic drop sheets when your layout isn’t in use. Those plastic covers are very light. Though you might want to use something to keep the plastic from getting caught and ripping on any towers, trees or accessories you might have. You could try putting a few empty milk cartons on the layout (if there’s space) near trees or lights, etc. to help keep the plastic sheet from getting stuck on those items.
Gosh Elliot, you made me laugh real hard! I didn’t see your response - as I was writing mine - and then to see we both started off with near identical sentences! [:D]
You and I might not think the same on everything, but we’re pretty close on many others! Maybe we should both run for Congress… we might actually get something accomplished!! [^]
Great minds do think alike Brian, and that was funny how we used the same words!![bow][(-D][swg]
The problem with running for Congress is we would never get to play with our trains. I could just see us now, sitting at some State function at the White House, thinking of
K-line!!! [banghead][:P][;)]
If we did, would that mean all of our trains would be “Congressional Sets”???
I see I beat you to it by 4 whole minutes, a couple of months ago I was having similar “posting races” with another member over on the MR forum. Again similar content in both responses, but I was beating his posts by seconds.[:D]
I realize water is not the preferred method of cleaning but it does give good results. Some of the details on the new stuff makes it hard to get all the dust and dirt out which is why I tried washing it. Granted, I don’t do this on a regular basis just when something gets really dirty. I like the drop cloth idea and I will look into it. I have been doing a lot of home repairs and I use a lot of work working tools down the basement and wood dust gets everywhere and the trains are not in the same room as the tools.
I store all my trains on shelving in my basement. I used to have a major problem with dust. I added two HEPA air cleaners to the room and this has significantly reduced the amount of dust. I now go down the shelves with a feather duster about every 6 months to remove the slight bit of dust that accumulates.
I used to use a swifter cloth on one of those mop heads to clean the painted floor in my basement. It did a great job of removing dust. I have since carpeted and, as discussed in my above post, installed HEPA filters. I tried to clean rolling stock with them but they tended to snag on the finer details and did not get into the corners as well as a Q-tip does.
One thing that nobody has mentioned is, compressed air. They make spray cans of it for photographic use, but it is rather spendy. An air compresser will blow all of your problems away, and is very handy for other projects too, if you want to make the investment. No problems getting into corners with that.[:D]
A little twist on the paint-bruhing is have a second paint-brush available
and spray it down with WD-40, wipe out the excess on a clean cloth and use
that bruo dust into crevices and on metal parts. It picks out the dust, etc.
and leaves a protective film down in the details. Use this method about every
other time you dust. On alternate times, when you dust, the dry brush will also
remove dust, etc. and also any excess WD-40 residue. Just remember to go
LIGHT on the WD-40 on that brush! A little goes a long way. It doesn’t seem to
hurt any train surfaces. A museum I belong to uses this method to dust fragile
objects that are displayed on open shelves. Has worked for them for years.
You might want to consider Pledge on that paint brush instead of WD-40, it is made for dusting, and it smells nicer.
Back in the 80’s Pledge was all the rage for cleaning trains, but boy do they turn out shiney. Just don’t use lemon, and now I guess orange, because the acidity of the these additives can cause problems.
I use my air compressor for dust. I have a huge 60 gallon monster of a compressor in my garage that I can run a long line in to my train room. I set the pressure for about 20PSI and blow EVERYTHING off. Even on the layout.
Have been using Lemon Pledge on my trains for 30+ years with no ill effects.
The Orange Pledge leaves an oily residue that builds up over time. The Lemon
Pledge is a great non-abrasive cleaner and doesn’t harm the original paints
on older trains (tin plate). It is a very good degreaser for wheels like cast
steamer drivers. It doesn’t leave a residue and doesn’t build up.
Joe, I clean dirty rolling stock like this. A while, as an example, I purchased a 7800 Pepsi boxcar that had never been run but handled and displayed. There was dust on the roof and the white sides had become off-white. My downstairs half bathroom also serves as train car cleaning area. I keep a bar of good old Ivory soap on the sink and a couple used soft toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet. With warm water running, I wet the carbody then rub soap in my hands which then soap up the piece I’m cleaning. I then rub the toothbrush in the soap bar and use it for areas my hands can’t clean. After a good rinseing and drying (with the compressed air), the car looked brand new. Just be careful with decals and some printing on postwar pieces.
