Hi I am looking for a good way to clean old track/wheels etc.
I went to the only hobby shop in a 50 mile radius and guess what they did not have any in stock.
so I figure someone here might tell me what they use.
At the hobby shop they suggested brasso or denatured alchohol?
Thanks for any ideas that you might have.
Personally, I use 1200 grit sandpaper - very fine, too fine to scratch the wheels or rails.
I also find that having all metal wheels on my rolling stock helps keep the track clean.
Hope this helps,
tbdanny
For track cleaning a Brite Boy or similar track cleaning bar and a soft cloth (old t-shirt or sheet) with rubbing alchol on it work fine for me.
For loco wheels, take a piece of the same cloth about 2" wide and long enough so it can be held down each side of the track with fingers or tacks. Hold your loco so one set of wheels is on the alchol dampened piece of cloth and turn up the power and let the wheels spin. When they are clean let the loco move and the other set of wheels ride on the cloth.
For rolling stock I use a Q-tip and alchol. Locos clean much easier. If you keep your track clean, it helps keep your wheels clean.
Good luck,
Stay away from the Bright Boy. Old school stuff good for DC layouts but not DCC layouts. Too coarse. There has been many discussions about this issue in various model train and DCC forums.
Some old times who do not keep up with the times will disagree.
Use 1200 or finer grit paper from an automotive store that sells auto painting supplies. Our club uses #2000 grit paper bonded to hard wood block. Really cleans and polished the track, plus alcohol on a lint free rag is very good also. That is all our club has been using for many years.
Make a John Allen freight car type track cleaner which uses a small piece of Masonite under the car to keep the track clean. Our club has a home made car and a manufactured John Allen type car.
Do a Google search for john allen track cleaner.
Rich
Great sounds like a simple fix hopefully. I will get me some sandpaper and a bottle of elbow grease. Thanks
That’s one part from CMX machine and home made
Wolfgang
The best “liquid” cleaner I have found and have been using for several years is CRC 2-26 electronics cleaner, available at most hardware stores. It cleans both track and wheels very well and lasts a long time (I only need to clean twice a year at most). Speay it on a cloth and wipe the rails. Use the same method as another poster described for clean the wheels, but spray the CRC 2-26 on a paper towel instead of alcohol.
Enter “gleem” in the Search our Community box and you will find a lot of discussion on an (almost permanent) track cleaning method of using fine grit (400-600) emery paper followed by buffing with a stainless steel washer and light coat of wax.
I use it and it works great.
Jim
Here’s something you can use. It requires effort on your part but I think you will be pleased with the result. It’s called 'The GLEAM Method. I first used it back in 2006 and I didn’t have to clean my track again until I tore my layout apart to redo it just a month ago. First clean your track using 91% isopropyl alcohol. You can get it at just about any drug store or dept store. I get mine at Wal-Mart. Get yourself a wood block a little wider than your track and wrap some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper around it and sand those rail tops. Don’t go across. Go in the direction of the rails. Do all the track. Now repeat it but with 800 grit or higher. Now make sure there’s no power going to your track. Now place a stainless steel washer on the track. It must be big enough to span both rails. Press down on the washer and move it in the direction the rails. Move it back and forth along the track. The track will feel slightly rough at first but it will smooth out. This is what you want. By pressing down on the washer while you’re moving it you’re closing up the nicks and gouges in the tops of the rails. Do all the track. Now it’s time for the metal polish. I use Blue Magic metal polish cream. Spread a thin layer of it on a piece of cork then place the piece of cork polish side down on the track then pick it back up. It will leave some polish on the rail heads. do this to all the track. Don’t slide the cork along. That will cause polish to get down on the sides of the rails. Let the polish dry. Now take a clean piece of cork, place it on the track and move it back and forth just as you did with washer. Keep this up with an 18" section of track and buff those rail heads clean. The cork will be black now. Flip the cork over and do that section again. That section should be shining like a mirror now. Get another piece of cork and do the same on the next section. Keep this up until you’ve done all the track.Vacuum up any left over powder from the polish. And that’s all there is to GLEAMing.
NOXON metal polish! …papasmurf
[quote user=“jeffrey-wimberly”]
Here’s something you can use. It requires effort on your part but I think you will be pleased with the result. It’s called 'The GLEAM Method. I first used it back in 2006 and I didn’t have to clean my track again until I tore my layout apart to redo it just a month ago. First clean your track using 91% isopropyl alcohol. You can get it at just about any drug store or dept store. I get mine at Wal-Mart. Get yourself a wood block a little wider than your track and wrap some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper around it and sand those rail tops. Don’t go across. Go in the direction of the rails. Do all the track. Now repeat it but with 800 grit or higher. Now make sure there’s no power going to your track. Now place a stainless steel washer on the track. It must be big enough to span both rails. Press down on the washer and move it in the direction the rails. Move it back and forth along the track. The track will feel slightly rough at first but it will smooth out. This is what you want. By pressing down on the washer while you’re moving it you’re closing up the nicks and gouges in the tops of the rails. Do all the track. Now it’s time for the metal polish. I use Blue Magic metal polish cream. Spread a thin layer of it on a piece of cork then place the piece of cork polish side down on the track then pick it back up. It will leave some polish on the rail heads. do this to all the track. Don’t slide the cork along. That will cause polish to get down on the sides of the rails. Let the polish dry. Now take a clean piece of cork, place it on the track and move it back and forth just as you did with washer. Keep this up with an 18" section of track and buff those rail heads clean. The cork will be black now. Flip the cork over and do that section again. That section should be shining like a mirror now. Get another piece of cork and do the same on the next section. Keep this up until you’ve done all the track.Vacuum up any left over powder from the polish. And that’s all there is to GLEAM