Dirty Rails

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi Guys

I have dirty rails, there always dirty no matter what I do. I have a Very Clean train room the doors are closed and the windows are sealed and I have a air cleaner going 24 hours a day. What Is the Problem I clean all Cars and Engines and I have the goo gone out pretty much all the time.

Any suggestions???

Jeremy

2

If you’re running trains on a regular basis, the rails are gonna get dirty on a regular
basis too. I’ve been scrubbing my N scale layout with a Bright Boy bar and then wiping them down with a rubbing alcohol-soaked lint-free cloth. I also vacuum the
sections at least 3-4 times per operating season (early fall to early spring).

I actually clean the wheels of my locomotives before every run (I don’t do the cars) and
I’ve had fairly good luck with that routine.

3

I have a couple:

  1. Run the trains more often. Moss won’t grow on a rolling stone!
  2. Put a cleaning car in the consist. A cleaning car takes the drudgery out of cleaning the track. The Centerline car also has a provisions for a body to sit on top of it, if you find the “naked” cleaning car unattractive.
  3. Use only nickel-silver track. The biggest problem with brass and steel track is that it oxidizes and gets dirty quicker.
  4. If you smoke → quit!

Good Luck…

4

I do run my trains everyday, I don’t smoke and I use nickel-silver rail but I still have this problem. Any other suggestions??? thanks for the info I’ll take a look at the rail cleaning car I have heard bad things about them though

5

I did own the HO $64.00 centerline and traded up to the $99.00 Tony’s Clean Machine.
http://www.ttx-dcc.com/technews/clean_machine.htm.

If you can reach all your track, 200’ max and single deck, then try the $3.00 MAAS Paste www.maasinc.com

Tony has been layed off and seeking other oportunities since being replaced by MAAS on my layout.
I keep him around just as a reminder that it need not be expensive to CLEAN track.

Aztec may have one better at $124.00, The Annihilator @ www.aztectrains.com

6

Run S scale trains. I never clean my tracks, leave the door open all the time, smoke my pipe in the train room, and sometimes go a month+ between sessions. I never have any problems.
Enjoy
Paul

7

Do you run plastic wheels on your rolling stock? For whatever reason I tend to get more dirt accumulation when running my cars with plastic wheelsets. Eventually I will convert to all metal.

Corey

8

Remember there are 28", 33", 36" & 38" metal wheels and many manufacturers.

Also axles have various lenghts.

Intermountain and then Proto have good reputations.
Up grading will give you more free rolling ability and run longer trains.

9

I had used various types of track drags and cleaning cars over the years as well as the track Bright Boys. I finally tried the metal polish and what a difference!

I have operating sessions every other week so the track does not get run much between times as I am working on the layout. Before I would have to keep cleaning the engine wheels as the engines would not run smooth. The room is very dry and the only dust is from the construction and this is very minimal.

I tried the metal polish on one section that does not get run each session and the engines worked very smooth and I did not have to clean the engine wheels for at least 3 sessions. After this good experience I then did another section that was not run each session and again it worked session after session. I could tell when I would run on an untreated session as the engine would begin jerking and wanting to stall.

Now, going to the metal polish would require me to hand polish all of the track. And with over 2700 feet (yes this is correct!) of track this was one thing I was concerned with at there would be a considerable amount of time involved to polish all of this.

Well I finally made the decission and with the help of my OPs crew the job is now done. So I am a real believer in the metal polish and with the plastic wheel change outs on the cars continuing the track polishing may only have to be done once a year if then!

Bob H Clarion, PA

10

JeremyB, I did not mean to be offensive, I just rattled off the first four things that came to my head. There are a lot of great suggestions here, but some of them may not be practical for you.

Back in the olden days when I used abrasive methods to clean my rails, I did notice that the plastic wheelsets would be literally caked in crud. (This crud is much like the crud that I keep cleaning out of my mouse, but that is another matter.) Metal wheelsets stayed much cleaner, but there is no way that I am converting my entire fleet.

I had no problem with my cleaner car - In a continous run, the track cleaning car also cleans the wheelset of the cars around it. The biggest grip seems to be that cleaning cars only pu***he dirt around. Probably true, but it pushes dirt off the rail heads and emperical evidence suggest that this method is much better that the Brite Boys. The problem with the Brite Boys, at least the way that most people use them, myself included, is to give the rails the once over. This method leaves dirt on the rail. The metal polish idea makes sense to me and I will give it a go in the future.

If all that doesn’t work, don’t switch to S, switch to Digi-Q. See:
http://www.micro-ir.com/train/english/index.html
I bought a couple sets of these curiosities off of Ebay. N scale-i***rains that really do not care about track conditions. The will look really great running around the big Polar Lights Godzilla and the Faller Tokyo (Eiffle) Tower.

Later…

11

I run 2 or more locos lashed together to help drag each other over bad track. This may not look right with steam, but I run diesel. I also run dcc and found that setting the momentium off will help a bunch on dirty track as it takes less time to recover after power loss. I have a big layout in a dirty area and I know about dirty track. Some ways to combat it is to put a 2 inch strip of paper towel on the track (in a curve) and soak it with rubbing alcohol. Then run the train over it and be amazed at the black streaks. Do this until the black is gone. Goo gone has been recommended to clean track, but leaves an oily film which traps dust. Put some on you hands and then wa***hem without soap, feel the oil on your hand even after you dry them. That’s bad. You need to clean the tracks with rubbing alcohol to get the citrus oil off. A nice track cleaner can be made from masionite with 2 roof nails cemented to it and put into holes in the bottom of a box car. Sand the dirt off it as it accumulates. A bright boy is king for cleaning, but if you track is really dirty a green pad will cut the filth faster. Hope this helps. FRED

12

Sorry detting If I sounded angry, I was just saying that I do those all those things.
Im sorry If I came off as a jerk.

Jeremy

Ps : Sorry again, thanks for the Info

13

Does anyone remember the RELCO track cleaning system from the UK? AS I understand it, a high frequency is applied to the track , and this zaps any crud between the loco wheels and the track. (Probably not DCC compatible, but maybe turning off the DCC and running the RELCO on DC would work) Does it clean the track, or is “zapped crud” left on the track? I know you need a capacitor across the motor , and another across the power pack outlet to the track. What values I’m not sure.
comments?[8D]

14

Ever considered a vacuum cleaner car to save yourself some work? [;)]

Art
www.mrsonline.net

15

GOO Gone on a home made cleaner car. Can’t beat it. Flee is correct though, it does leave a film. follow it up with an alcohol car. Try toothpaste on those grimy wheels. Cleans them real good plus your locos smell real good.

Have fun

16

i have used NEVR DULL which is a cotton wadding chemically impregnated on motorcycle polished cases and it does a great job removing tarnish. also good is a product called SIMICHROME which is a paste polishing compound used for the same purpose and it has done a great job.

i have used both products on my rails and it works very well there also. both of these can be usually found at motorcycle shops. i ahve sold both of these products for years and can personally attest to their effectiveness.

jon in tennessee

17

I use MAAS paste once on my layout Damn, what a differnce!! havent had to clean the rails for about 8 months now and i only run my trains bout once a week or so if that
try it you might like it

REGARDS
LARRY

18

Jeremy:

I’m in HO and run metal wheels only. If you have plastic wheels replace them, they manufacture crud. I wipe down my nickel-silver track with alcohol once in a while and clean and gauge wheelsets once a year or so. Thats all that seems necessary.

Randy

19

Hey guys.

Randy is likely right! I’m currently in the process of converting my entire HO freight & passenger fleet to metal wheels. You can clean like crazy but the crud on your track is coming from your plastic wheels. Don’t despair if you’re on a budget. Buy the Proto wheels set packs. Every payday, I buy 1 to 2 packs ($8.00). They’re a headache saver! Each pack comes with enough wheel/axles for 3 cars. You’ll notice that they look realistic, track better, and the “clickety-clacks” sound much sharper. Try a pack! I will be building a DCC layout next year, so I’m raising the standards for the rolling stock. The packs come in: 33" for freight cars, 36" for passenger cars.

.

20

As far as I know, this is still available. it’s not DCC compatible, but as you say you could run it on DC with a suitable loco. The unit supposedly oxidises dirt. It switches itself on when it detects a poor contact between loco and track, and then shuts off again when contact is restored. There are several similar products out there. I’ve heard reports of lights staying illuminated on some trains even when stationary while using this product, and of odd noises from motors, but having not used one myself I can’t really comment on this!