What is the best or the easiest why to clean locomotive wheels? Also is there different tech. for steam and diesel?
I am using automotive metal polish and small Q-tips. It works, but there must be an easier way.
This is what I use.
Put some track cleaning fluid on a piece of cloth, stretch it across the track, and let the locomotive run onto it and spin its wheels. You will need to hold the cloth across the track with one hand and pull the engine back off of the cloth when it stalls; let it start running again; then run it onto the cloth. Do this several times until the wheels are cleaned. For a diesel, do one truck at a time.
Kadee makes a brass bristled brush that you can connect to the track, turn the locomotive upside down, and clean wheels, but after a while it cruds up and just spreads the dirt around instead of removing it. I’m not so sure this would not ultimately scratch locomotive wheels and cause them to pick up more dirt.
I’ve used both ways and had a lot of crud come off of the wheels immediately after using the Kadee brush, too. I’ve even tried putting a small amount of track cleaner on the brush, but couldn’t tell much difference.
There’s also a wheel cleaning brush made by Trix, but I have never tried it.
For now I have a cleaning track that is not on the main bench. I soak some nail polish remover on a heavy paper towel. Lay it on the rails then set the front or rear wheels on the paper towel. I lift the engine up a little so I dont fry the motor. It works pretty good with nail polish remover but there are other solvents that can be used. On my steam engines that have none driven wheels I used the remover on a paper towel and spin one side with my finguer and clean the other side.
If you happen to have any Steames that use the tender as a power pick up clean the axles center where the power pick up contacts the axels. Plus clean the tender wheels as well.
I use to use sand paper on the wheels. I was using 1000 grit and worked great, till I stated to see brass where the nickel wore off.
Cuda Ken
I’ve been using the Kadee wheel cleaner for almost a year and have had no problems with it scratching the wheels. As for it crudding up and spreading dirt around, an old toothbrush does a wonderful job of cleaning the dirt off the bristles.
I’ve used the saturated cloth on track method, but I prefer the Q-tip with either alcohol or Micro-Mark track cleaning fluid. Invert the locomotive in a cradle, attach the power, turn it up, and press the dipped Q-tip against the rim of the wheels. Works like a charm for me. One problem with abrasive wheel cleaners is that eventually they wear off the nickel plating, exposing the brass, which oxidizes much more quickly and means the wheels have to be cleaned FAR more often.
Tom
I put some rubbing alcohol on one of those “Blue Shop Towel” paper towels, place it on a short piece of track that my Zephyr is hooked up to, place the loco on the paper towel on the track and add some power to it while holding onto it. once the wheels are spinning it takes about 20 seconds to have nice clean wheels with no scatches on them. Don’t give them a lot of power but just enough to get the wheels turning at a good speed.
I didn’t want to be wearing down my layout’s track by using sections of it for cleaning my wheels and I’d rather do things like cleaning wheels at my workbench where I can sit, rather than stand. I have to “save my feet” for running trains, not cleaning wheels. You older guys will know what I mean.
I took a 1" by 4" piece of wood, around 20" long and mounted a small, inexpensive second-hand power pack to it at one end (I just ran electrician’s tape around the power pack and the board several times). Then, I tacked a piece of track along the length of the wood in the middle. Then, I attached 2 wires to the DC terminals on the power pack and soldered the other ends to the track. Thus, I can plug in this power pack at my workbench, place a paper towel with cleaner on it and place one set of wheels on the powered track and the other set of wheels on the paper towel to clean them. Then I simply turn the engine around and clean the other set of wheels.
I generally use “Goo Gone” to clean the wheels first and then I reclean the wheels to remove the “Goo Gone” with Isopropyl Alcohol. Be sure to clean the track on the board occassionally because it will pick up grime from the wheels that have not been cleaned yet.
A good habit to get into is to clean all your engine wheels BEFORE you put them back on your shelf. This way, when you grab an engine to place on your layout, the wheels are clean.
Holpe this helps.
Mondo
I guess we really don’t know if continuos use of the Kadee or Trix brass wire brush will actually scratch the nickle silver plating. After many years, (maybe 6-7) I was beginning to notice scratches/ wear after cleaning. This wear could be more due to wheel spin and actual use. Regardless, I now only clean all my diesels on the wetted paper towel on the track.
On sound equipt units, I think the uninterupted power of cleaning this way works better anyway. Less chance of damage to the shell and truck detail also.
I use a gun cleaning patch (1"x1"), soak in rubbing alcohol, lay on the track, and lay one truck on it, run it, and then the other truck and run that for a few seconds. And I am off. Works for the steamers too.
Peter
Having had some brass steamers with plated brass tires, I avoided abasives.
A ‘Q’ TIP and rubbing alcohol applied to an upside-down (running) engine did the trick.
I would use a hard plastic knife-like item to scrape off the thicker crud, if that seemed worthwhile due to the amount that had built up. Then, Q-tip or something else, and a solvent or alcohol. In fact, solvent first (yes, I know about solvents, but the crud is real, too), and then a final wipe with alcohol to remove any film or residue. This will probably take as much as 15 minutes per your “average” steamer, but doing one a week in a large stable seems to me to be a good maintenance program.
I agree with the tip about doing it before placing it in storage so that you can play right away when you want it is a good idea.
I received my May 2007 Model Railroader today and on page 44 is a column by Paul Dolkos on how he cleans locomotive wheels using rags and Q-tips with solvents.