or are you all spending your hobby hours cleaning track? Everyday I see posts with people asking about how to keep their track clean, and everyday, scores of people answer with their solutions to this supposedly common problem. Are all of these people using DCC, which I’ve heard is much more fussy about conductivity? And is it really that fussy? Or are all of these layouts in hostile environments, with sandstorms and mudslides (to scale, of course) [swg] occurring while the layout owner is not present?
I’m puzzled as to why this problem seems to be so widespread, and even moreso as to why everybody seems to accept it as the way things are. I am aware of the need to clean brass track, and of the problems with steel track, so let’s exclude these from the discussion. Any thoughts or comments?
After I weathered my rails back in November, I used 600 grit sandpaper to clean off the tops of the rails. Since then, I have not cleaned them, only run them with a mixture of plastic and metal wheels.
After gluing and repairing some track or its ballast, or after doing any work near the track, I always wipe that foot or so with a paper towel dampened with isopropyl alcohol and water. It comes up black, so I know I am removing something, likely oxidation and some organic stuff.
My trains run great, and I am using a Digitrax Klunk. It used to be marketed as the Super Empire Builder, but it is an antique, so I named it the same way the Canadian Airforce named their CF-100 Canuck…the Clunk.
Oh, and aside from having to rip up a perfectly good turnout and about 2 feet of nicely ballasted and weathered track yesterday, yes, I am having fun. [:(!]
I’m having a great time! I clean rails every six to eight months, because of dust and debris from construction (house AND layout). Usually all I do is vaccuum the track and run my John Allen track cleaning car over everything. Occasionally in areas under construction I also swipe the track with a brite boy.
I’ve been building my layout for 2 years now. I have wiped off my track after ballasting, and I’ve done occasional spot cleaning, but I haven’t had to do a systematic cleaning of the whole layout yet.
My layout is in the finished family room, and we don’t have any construction going on, either inside or out, other than actual work on the layout. Our basement is also finished, and the driveway is paved, so I’m not tracking dirt around or stirring it up.
My only repeated cleaning chore is the Bowser PCC car. It has brass wheels, and they need a good cleaning about once a month, even with just occasional running. And yes, I’ve been in touch with NWSL about replacement nickel-silver wheels - I just haven’t gotten around to ordering them yet.
And to answer the original question? Yes, I am still emphatically having fun!
I’m having a great time! Thanks to one of the other members here (Semafore) I use the best track cleaning method I’ve ever seen. Using his method, which he calls GLEAM, I cleaned my track last June and haven’t had to do a hard cleaning on it since, just wipe off any dust which may have accumalated and I’m in business. Apparently others here think I’m talking into my hat or maybe I’m some sort of crackpot for believing this method can work. I believe in results and the GLEAM method, applied properly, brings great results. So while the others are wiping their track with alcohol or using track cleaning cars that they have to use again and again and again, I’m having fun running my trains. And isn’t that the point of this hobby, to have fun?
I’m having a ball! I am into G scale outdoors, I use Aristo-craft brass code 332 and clean my rails maybe once a year with a scrubby pad and WD-40. I find my railroad to be very trouble free and very low maintenance, but then that’s the way I built it.
Running the trains frequently keeps the rails clean naturally. Using metal wheels helps a lot, and rubber traction tires are not used on my locos. Nothing but metal to metal contact on my railroad. Having a 10 amp power supply allows me to blast through any dirt as if it weren’t even there, also naturally aiding in the cleaning process.
Yup, I’m having all kinds of fun! I spend my time running or building, not cleaning.
I found that DCC was way fussier about clean track that DC ever was!
As I began building my latest layout back in 2000 once I had a little track down I began limited operations to see just how the layout would run with DCC as this was my first one with this new fangled control.
While the layout and trackwork was being built I did have to clean the track a lot but figured that it was because of the dust from building benchwork. I did all major cutting up in the garage and only assembled the benchwork in the basement.
But as the years moved on and the benchwork was being finished up the cleaning of the track remained an ongoing problem!
I had rugs on the cement floor in the aisles and the walls had painted drywall on them. A dropped ceiling had been installed early on so the room was prepared as all of the experts had suggested, yet I still had to keep cleaning the track before every Ops session I had (which was every other Thursday night)! And then the engines had to have the wheels cleaned several times during the OPs session.
My crew was getting tired of this ongoing problem and so was I. Around 2003 MR magazine had an article about using metal polish to clean and PROTECT the rails. Now I had just about every type of cleaning car (both liquid & dry) Rail Vac and some of my own design cleaning cars. None of them made it any better over time.
I STILL had to keep cleaning the track every two weeks before the OPs. I did until I tried the metal polish! When I first read the MR magazine article I thought that “Like this is gonna work” but in desperation I tried it on a small section of track that had it’s own engine.
Yep, the layout construction is many years past, the basement is sheetrocked, carpeted, ceiling installed, railroad running. I have used Command control since the late 80’s, first Dynatrol, then switched to NCE DCC in 1999. I have a train that consists of two powered diesels, two of Tony’s track cleaning cars, one runs wet, the other dry, with a gondola in between carrying cleaning needs, followed by an old Pecos brass drovers caboose that I didn’t know what to do with since I model ATSF in 1989. That takes care of cleanup other than a spot cleaning once in awhile in an area that hasn’t seen a lot of activity.
The layout room has a humidifier, it is vacuumed and cleaned regularily, Oh, and has its own bathroom with appropriate reading material from MR, Garden Railways and other choice selections.
The layout is three deck, remains relatively maintenance free. Life is good.
Also during the warmer days, I run a G gauge garden railroad in the backyard, using aluminum track from Llagas Creek, radio control/battery power in the diesels and track cleaning consists of picking up twigs and once in awhile, some dog poop off the rails.
I’ve been enjoying MRRing almost three years now and DCC for over 2 of them.
I run ALL metal wheels on my rolling stock and run my locomotives, on average, 1-2 hours per week.
I’ve NEVER had to clean my steam locomotives wheels.
My Proto 2000 Alco S1 diesel switcher is the most sensitive locomotive I have to dirty track. I’ve cleaned the wheels on that a couple of times now.
I spot clean my track with 91% Isopropyl and I’ve cleaned it maybe 3 times over that period.
Even though I have one, I’ve never used my Brite Boy, nor have I used anything abrasive to clean the surface of the NS track (like 600 grit sandpaper) or some kind of polish. It is still has that original, shiny, polished look to it.
My layout is in the basement.
The walls and ceilings are covered, the floors are carpeted, and we run a dehumidifier about 6 months of the year.
My little 4X8 DCC practice layout has been up for over a year now and I have yet to clean any track or wheels. I converted all rolling stock to metal wheelsets, ran several track feeders and made rock-solid solder joints on the curved portions of the flex track. Even at the slowest speeds, I have no problems. My basement isn’t finished (drywall, drop-ceiling, etc) but I’m sloowwwlly working on that.
I suppose at some point I’ll have to clean the track but I’m not noticing any buildup on track or wheels. And to paraphrase Foghorn Leghorn, I’m havin’ more fun than a judge at a centipede toe-countin’ contest.
Both are easy to deal with one replace as many as possible of the plastic wheel sets with metal ones, even if a smoker Ban the practice in the railway room.
I also fitted a Relco unit to the track which has reduced the track cleaning car run even further
Every device has its maintenance tasks track cleaning is just one of ours that has to be done from time to time
Its not the big deal it sometimes appears to be and its just as much fun running the track cleaner extra as it is running for example the coal extra.
If we are talking the immediately after ballasting track clean up before the train service starts this is a painful job to get all the loose stuff and bits that are where they should not be then get the rails clean but after that its no biggie.
Yes I get a great deal of enjoyment from the hobby and don’t spend that much time cleaning track unless the railway has been idle for a long time which some times happens when a different aspect of the hobby gets hold of me for a while.
Wayne,I Seldom cleaned track on my past industrial switching layouts…I clean them with (horrors!) a bright boy then spray on Radio Shack Channel Turner Cleaner and forget about cleaning track for months.I learn that at the club years ago.
As a side note I use plastic and metal wheels so I don’t think plastic wheels is the villain they are made out to be.
I also think modelers worry to much about cleaning track.
I do think DCC is more susceptible to dirty track, a problem increased with decreasing scale; but it is definitely more a problem if running sound which requires spottless track.
Caveat: This refers to analog DC, not that fussy electronic stuff…
On my layout under construction I have NEVER cleaned the rails, except to remove excess solder after soldering frogs and guard rails. If the loose debris seems deep enough to require it, I run my wedge plow in front of a DD51 class diesel-hydraulic.
On my 26 year old module, I have to dust the track (20 seconds with a swiffer pad) if I haven’t operated it for a month or more. That hardly fits the specification of an annoying chore.
Scale is HOj (1:80 on 16.5mm gauge,) rail is nickel silver (Atlas and Shinohara, and some Cactus Brass) codes 100, 83 and 70. Wheels are 85% metal, 15% plastic.
I’ve read most of the threads about cleaning track and think I can theorize about what has been reported and suggested.
I think that the reason some people report different levels of problems with track is based on the way they use the layout. If you’re running trains a lot, like I did on my first layout, around and around and around, the track tends to stay cleaner. Obviously, the wheels, whether they are plastic or metal, knock off the dust and dirt. My current and more sophisticated layout, built for operation, is not as much fun as my old layout, in terms of watching trains run. With my first, more basic layout, I could sit in my easy chair and watch trains run around the whole layout, like I did was I was a young kid. The track stayed cleaner with all that running of trains.
My current layout was built for operation and I can’t sit in one place and just watch trains run around the whole thing and therefore, I don’t run the trains as much. I’m still having fun; in fact, I’m having 4 guys over tonite for an operating session. But back to the track cleaning.
I’ve tried everything suggested on this forum, including polishing all the rails with silver polish. Unfortunately, nothing has really changed. I still need to get out the “Tony’s Train Exchange” track cleaning tank car and fill it with solvent and let it run around the layout to clean the track. The problem may be that when I originally built the layout 7 years ago, I used a Brite-Boy abrasive cleaning eraser after installing sections of track. So, I may have done the damage back then by creating scratches that hold the dirt and dust. I guess that would suggest that it’s time to try and get those scratches out. I’ve read that using very fine sandpaper and then running pieces of stainless steel over the rails to burnish them, could restore them to a nice smooth finish.
No one is offering more than speculation based on experience, so we have no empirical data on which to base any of our contentions. I can understand why there might be some concern with using a sand-paper wipe, fine files, and other things that actually abrade, such as a Bright Boy. Two things, though: any grooves caused by them, if only used very seldom, are likely to disappear over time with simple use anyway. Secondly, the resulting small embrications and other configurations of cross-hatching and grooves, whether transverse or linear in orientation relative to the direction of traval, are surely going to increase traction since they offer more tooth. I realize some members insist that gleaming, for example, actually improved traction…who am I to challenge them, since I was not in a position to actually measure it emprically, so I will have to accept their evidence at face value. It seemed to me, after my own methods, that my locomotives improved their performance, too. So, was that due to the surface configuration, or due to its advanced cleanliness? How do we tell?
Interesting, at this early point in the thread, that we have so many respondents who are so happy and who never seem to have problems, despite seldom cleaning their tracks, and at the same time apparently die-hard converts to DCC.
I’m not havng as much fun as I like but that is due to construction, not track cleaning. I am building a very large layout and even though all the track is in except for a couple industrial spurs, I do not run the trains as often as I like. There is still about 40% of the layout that is unscenicked and I don’t get a lot of satisfaction running the trains through these areas. Also, when I’m working on scenery, I tend to leave a lot of tools and scenic materials laying on the bare benchwork so that makes running trains even less satisfying. Getting the primary scenery done has become a top priority so I can begin having the kinds of operations I envisioned when I began building this monster. I am running DCC so I do have the same track cleaning issues everyone else does but I find that to be a minor nuisance. Occasionally, I put the construction on hold to run a few trains over the layout and through the scenicked portions and this is enough to keep me moving toward the goal of a completely scenicked layout with full blow operating sessions.
Sue’s and my enjoyment of this hobby has increased dramaticaly since becoming involved in this web site. The combinatioin of a vast sea of technical information and the social aspect of sharing in the progression of everyones layouts has led us to better modeling. Thanks for all your help and keep up the great work.