DCC Dirty Tracks

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

My layout consists of two tracks with a total of 160’ of track (all soldered connections) including 4 curves…an around the top of the room setup with 2.5% grades on two walls. I am using an MRC Prodigy Advance DCC controller and run 5 DCC sound locos on each independant track. After a run time of 3-4 hours (throttle settings of 30) the tracks become extremely black and need cleaning to alleviate the constant shutdown/startup of the locos. Is this normal? According to MRC the 3.5 Amp controller should be good for up to 20 DCC locos. I have used the MRC 4 Amp booster but don’t see any advantage to more amps.

Thanks for any help or input.

Thom

2

I also use DCC and clean track is an absolute must. I used to have to clean the track once every two or three days until I learned about a method that uses metal polish from another forum member.

I cleaned my track with Blue Magic metal polish last June and haven’t had to clean it since, just give it a quick wipe once in a while (about once a month) to take off the carbon buildup that results from the electricity arcing to the loco wheels. I keep telling people that this method works, but they either think it’s too much work to do it once or they don’t do it correctly and get mad when they have to clean metal polish off the wheels. Well, if they don’t follow directions that’s what happens.

I use a 4 step process.

Make sure the track power is OFF.

Step 1. I sand the tops of the rails with 800 grit sand paper then sand again with 1200 grit. Not a heavy force, just a light sanding going in the same direction as the rails.

Step 2. Using a piece of stainless steel (part of a ss spoon handle in my case) that’s long enough to span the track I burnish the top of the rails. This helps remove any leftover trash from the sanding and also flattens the rail tops a little thus eliminating places that dirt can build up. Even the best quality rail looks rough under a microscope. The burnishing makes a big difference and doesn’t decrease the traction of the locos at all, rather it increases it a little.

Step 3. I apply a little metal polish to a piece of cork roadbed material. Not a heavy amount, just a thin layer. I use the cork to apply the polish to the top and only the top of the rails, going in the same direction as the track.

Step 4. After the polish has dried (it doesn’t take long) I use a clean piece of cork to rub the polish off the rails, again going in the same direction as the rails.

I had just cleaned my track before I used this method and I was shocked at the amount of black crud that was coming up when I took the pol

3

Don’t forget to clean your wheels as well. You would be amazed at the amount of muck that plastic wheel sets on freightcars can pick up.

4

How right you are! That’s the biggest reason I switched to metal wheels.

5

First, thanks Jeffrey for your method of track cleaning. Makes good sense to me and I’ll try it on the club layout. Now for the original post. I’m not a DCC person but to me the big difference between DCC and analog is the control of the loco and other devices through decoders. The amount of work being done is measured in amps. What’s nagging me here is that cadman said he is running 5 locos on each of two tracks for a total of 10 from the same power source and that the power source should handle 20 locos. Also stated was that there are two 2.5% grades involved here. I’m going to assume that there are two trains here with 5 locos MU’d on each train. What’s not given here is the length or number of cars in each train and if the mu’d locos are all synchronized speed wise. All of this contributes to the amount of work or amperage the power source has to put out to run these trains. I submit that the power source could care less how many locos there are. It’s concern is the amperage being drawn. As far as the the track getting dirty, Jeff’s comment about electrical arcing between the rail and loco’s wheels is correct, but spinning or slipping wheels from the locos contribute a great deal here too. Ken

6

I also had a lot of trouble with this. I run DCC to. But having read on this forum of polishing the rails I haven’t had that problem. I used a simpler method then the one described before in this thread. I simply took a piece of cork that I use when I sandpaper stuff. You know just a block of cork. I put some polish on to it and pushed it along the track. After a while I took another piece and removed the dirt. An amazing amount of dirt I might ad. Problems solved. I tried with accetone before but it didn’t do half the damage that the polish did.

Have anyone tried a CMX clean machine with polish in it?

Lillen

7

At the risk of being flamed by the “polishers”, that may not be necessary for all. If it works for you, great, but in some cases (including mine) it’s not all that attractive.

As previously stated, a main contributor to dirty track is wheels. Loco wheels and car wheels, especially plastic wheels. If you clean your track, clean every wheel before putting back on the nice clean rails! And replace the plastic ones.

Other contributors are dust, dirt, and humidity, plus just not running trains very often. Fortunately, my current layout is in a great environment – little dust & dirt, temperature-controlled.

I only have to clean about every 18 months, with acetone on Q-tips for the wheels, and acetone on the pad of a CMX Clean Machine http://tonystrains.com/gallery/cmx_section.htm.

I pull (not push) the CMX over about a hundred feet of track with a pair of diesels, then change the pad, clean it’s wheels, and run it again over the same track. Then repeat for the next hundred feet or so. Of course, your mileage may vary [:D]

You do have to be careful with acetone, of course. It’s an amazing solvent, thus gets all sorts of dirt, crud, and who-knows-what off rails and wheels, and leaves no residue. But it is very flammable, and is not at all good for human lungs, but if you are careful to have good ventilation, it’s teriffic.

8

A big thank you to Jeffrey about the metal polish and I will try that next.

Erieddiamond wondered about my wheels which are all metal on rolling stock as well as any dummys I run but have not cleaned the wheels on all the rolling stock. Geez, would take at least 5 hours or more…LOL but is probably worth the effort. Also the cars are articulated 5 section deep well on one track (total of 25 cars properly weighted) and the other track has 27 cars or various lengths from short hoppers to deep well and box cars.

9

I have a CMX clean machine but have not had much luck with it. Maybe after using the polish first I’ll give it another try. You suggest acetone?

10

I don’t think so. The polish users say polish is all you do – no (track) cleaning at all. (I don’t recall how they handle wheels). Various of them say they only have to re-treat every few weeks; some say every few months; and a couple say a couple of years or so. I suspect a lot depends on other factors, especially environment.

But yes, if you’re going to clean, I’d recommend acetone, probably in two passes with a clean pad each time, and of course good ventilation. A fairly close second would be rubbing alcohol. It’s not as nasty to lungs, paint, and plastic, and leaves no residue. I would NOT recommend the commercial solutions, as they leave a residue that quickly attracts more dirt & crud. At least all the ones I tried some years ago did.

In any case, the “white glove” test will tell you how you’re doing. You might only need one pass, or perhaps three passes the first time. And don’t forget to clean the CMX wheels each time, and all other wheels before running them.

11

Dirty track is a plague for us all. I’ve tried polishing the rails, clipper oil, CMX track cleaning car you name I’ve tried them all until last weekend. I seen a post 2 weeks ago that mentioned CRC 2-26, which has been around forever but I’d never heard of it. Did a google and it was mentioned in a few model RR web sites so thought I’d give it a try. WOW is all I can say. It works.

We just finished 2 op til you drop sessions last Friday and Saturday on the UCW and I can honestly say the railroad has never run better. I cleaned the rail first with my track cleaner and then applied a few drops of the stuff on the rails and let the engines spread it around as suggested. It’s the most impressive stuff I’ve used in over 50 years of model railroading.

I picked up my can at Lowes for about $5. It comes in a spray can so I sprayed a quantity in a small bottle with metal nozzle (A-West available at hobby shop) to better able control the flow.

If you try it I hope you have the same success I’ve had so far.

Lee Nicholas

Utah Colorado Western web site: www.ucwrr.com

12

Interesting stuff. Here’s how the manufacturer describes it:

CRC 2.26 is a stable, inert organic formula, especially prepared to prevent malfunction and deterioration due to the effect of moisture and corrosion, extends operational life, reduces down time and maintenance. It displaces water and moisture, seals hard surfaces with a continuous molecular film and never becomes dry, hard or brittle.

Sounds perfect, no? Amazon also carries it, for $6.52 plus shipping: http://www.amazon.com/CRC-INDUSTRIES-11OZ-2-26-Lubricant/dp/B000BXOGLA .

It looks like the manufacturer (in Australia) also makes it in liquid form, but I didn’t see any sources for that on the net.

(Don’t you just love how easy it is to find this kind of thing with Google?)

Let’s hope some other folks try it and post the results.

13

i used crc 2-26 to clean lever band contacts in interlocking machines and you must remove all the residue from the contacts or the film left will cause burning and pitting although the voltages were higher than we use in mrring. i prefer a dry cleaning way and use masonite slider cars in each train and do not have to clean my track. they are cheap and easy to make. i just use the liquid to clean loco wheels only. clean the slider pads with a fine sandpaper and they are ready to go again.
several months ago one of my clubs members used an aztec cleaner car with goo gone then used it with a dry cloth to clean the track on our n scale layout. the next week we could not get anything to run because of the film left by the goo gone. it took quite a while with a bright boy to get the track clean. since then only slider cars have been used and the track hasn’t needed to be cleaned any other way.

14

Y’all folks talking about how the polish “cleans the rails” and offering up the black goo as proof are mistaken. Those rails could be cleaner than a surgeon’s knife, and the polish will still end up giving you black goo. That black goo is a mix of the polish and the microscopic metal particles that it has removed. (Anybody who spent time polishing their brass in the service knows whereof I speak!) I’m not saying that polish doesn’t work, or that it does, simply that the black goo has little to nothing to do with how clean your track was to start with.

15

I am curious…what are “slider cars?”

Thom

16

Lee,

The CRC-2-26 sounds great. You mentioned you found it a Lowe’s…what section is it in. Is it a lubricant or paint? Thanks for any info you can provide.

Thom

17

In the mid 70’s my HO modeling was in Mississippi and I had real trouble keeping my track clean. Every other day, I was working on cleaning the track, all nickle silver at the time.

When I resumed in 2005, track cleaning was one of the big fears I had. Living in Colorado now, with our very low humidity and having my railroad in a clean, climate controlled ± 3 degrees basement I have yet to need my new centerline car.

So, my questions would be, what part of the country do you live in, and what is your trainroom environment like? Since Jeff lives in LA and his layout pictures show an AC in the wall, he works to control his environment as well as polish the track.

Joe Daddy

18

They are DYI cleaning cars (thought up by John Allen I think back in the '60s). You take some masonite (fibre board), cut into a square the width of a freight car, epoxy 2 (2") nails head down along the centerline of the square, (smooth side up), also drill 2 holes in the bottom of a freight car along the center line with the same spacing as the nails. Insert the nails into the holes and put it on the track and pull it around n a train. If you keep it in regular service or better yet 2 or 3 of these cleaning cars in service, they’ll keep the track clean. Every now and then you just freshen up the surface of the pads with some sand paper and put them back to work. You still have to clean your sidings manually. It’s cheap and effective. If you paint it black you;ll hardly notice it in a train.

19

Jeffrey and modelmaker-Thanks for those tips. I wonder how much of my dirt is coming from an unsealed cement floor. I found something strange the other day. I was running an IHC SD24. 12 wheel drive, but only 8 wheel pickup. I had recently cleaned my track and had just cleaned the locos wheels. It ran fine for about an hour and then it started jerking and stalling. I looked at the loco wheels and the 8 electric pickup wheels where caked with that black gook. The 4 non pickup ones where still perfectly clean. I wonder if there is a way to condition the power to help reduce this problem.

20

You might want to consider a wheel cleaning machine: http://www.mrsonline.net/html/wheel_cleaner.html

It keeps all wheels clean (not just loco driving wheels) automatically while operating the layout.
It’s in use on my own layout for over 10 years, keeping the wheels polished.

Regards,

Art
ZIMO Agency of North America
www.mrsonline.net