I get a black residue on the FasTrack after a period of use. What’s the best way to clean that off? It will come off on my hands (or my little boys), but can not be wiped off with a paper towel. It’s a pain in the****, as it takes a serious amount of scrubbing to then get it off our hands.
Green Scotch-Brite Pad! It works on all track types.
Jon [8D]
Visit your local hobby shop and pick up a bottle of track cleaning fluid (several brands are readliy available). Saturate a clean scrap of cloth with the stuff, and wipe down the rails. Follow that up with a final wiping with a clean, dry scrap of cloth. Hold off on using any abrasive track cleaning methods until you really need them, if ever.
I use 91% Isopropol alchohol from WalMart. A big bottle costs less than a buch and it cleans the rails extremely well. Apply some to a rag or a paper towel and wipe the rails, frequently turning the cloth to a clean part. You will be amazed at how black the cloth will be. Keep wiping until no black transfers to the cloth/towel. I doubt if abrasives really remove the residue. Most likely just redistribute it.
Jim
Seems that way. I tried the Scotch pad, then followed with the liquid, which blackened my cloth pretty quickly. The pad may loosen-up gunk, but you still need to remove it.
This is probably tin oxide. It does conduct electricity but it is also slippery. The track cleaning fluid/isopropyl alcohol is probably the best way to remove it. If you use abbrasives, you may damage the tin plating and then wind up with iron oxide (aka rust).
I can’t believe that they bleep out the word a-r-s-e.
You’re assuming “they” bleeped something. Perhaps the poster bleeped it himself by just implying what he was going to say via the use of asterisks, but deciding to keep everything suitable for any audience (always a good idea).
Ummmmmmmmm…I was the original poster. And I definitely didn’t bleep it - that’s why I used the word a-r-s-e instead of certain alternatives.
According to Bob Keller, the “bleeping” is built into the software that CTT uses for the forum. I gather that they are not inclined to get rid of it.
I dislike the fact that it is such a blunt instrument, as I discovered when I tried to use the words “c.r.o.t.c.h” and “a.r.s.e.n.i.c” in perfectly innocent contexts. On the other hand, it does little to prevent anyone who really wants to from posting offensive comments, as you have demonstrated. If my kids were inclined to be interested in toy trains, I would forbid them from visiting this forum, because of the frequent “adult” content. So much for attracting the next generation to the toy-train hobby.
Getting back to the original question, there is a product called RailZip that can be used to protect track from getting glopped up again. You do have to clean it first, then wipe on RZ , then let it dry. Supposed to work on all types of track.
I use RailZip on the pick up rollers it works great. Just a little dab rubbed around and they don’t pick up all the crud from the track.
Scotch Brite pad or sometimes GOO GONE.
laz57
On any type of track, I like to first use Goo gone. This really eats through the crud, and will get most of it off. I then follow up with a wipe or two of 91% Isopropyl to take care of the oily residue left behind by the Goo Gone and any other crud that it didn’t get.
Well, I tried the 91% isopropyl alcohol and that seemed to do the trick. Went over it very quickly last night just before I headed - will probably go over it a little more thoroughly at some point.
FasTrack is just like any other type of track. Which is why I must say and forgive me for this, but that is without doubt the stupidest ***ing question I’ve heard in my short time on this website. I appologise, but that is like a state trooper pulling over his wife for speeding, he might not like it but it has to be done, and this has to be said.
So are Scotchbrite pads abbrasive to train track? My trains haven’t ran much in 15 years so I’m in the same boat as a newby.
This subject has been discussed ad nauseum over in Model Railroading (HO and N, mostly). Here is the general consensus:
solvents (Goof-Off, Goo Gone, etc) leave a film. Bad for plastic, not great for paint.
Isopropyl alcohol is quite good, and cheap. Might have to wipe the track several times. Leaves volatiles in the air (means in your blood stream).
Metal polishes (M.A.A.S., Mother’s Mag Wheel Cleaner, and others) is superior, leaves no film if allowed to dry to a haze and then is buffed off thoroughly. It also inhibits further oxidation. It is less than $6 at Walmart. Nice thing about these polishes is that you will find your track staying clean longer. Some modelers have reported going a year between cleanings on their 2500’ of track. Not too shabby.
BTW, I oversprayed my 0-6-0’s drivers with Dullcoat. Goof-Off did a super job of getting it off, and they have not been cleaned since. Paint thinner, I’m sure, would do just as well, and certainly cheap ol’ acetone would. Just watch it around paint!!
I’m not a bleeper, I’m a deleter.
The system bleeps.
If I did bleep, I’d leave a note in the posting that I did it.
And Goo Gone on a rag, for me.
Never knew about the metal polishes like Mother’s. Very interesting . . .
Jim