Now I know I maybe evil for doing this, but I’ve been cleanig some of my track with big pink pencil erasers. It gives the railhead a good shine, and trains run better on it.
What are some opinions on this?
I have always used an eraser as one of my track cleaning tools. Works pretty well. Just make sure it stays on the railhead, you don’t want pieces of it on the track.
My opinion is, if you like it have at it. I think some erasers are abrasive, and scratches in the metal help it hold dirt. If you really like the erasers, try a Stadtleller-Mars (sp?) white vinyl one, available at Staples. Non-abrasive.
If you can safely vacuum the right of way afterwards, I don’t see why it should be a problem. That technique is an old stand-by for cleaning electrical contacts, such as when your cordless phone no longer charges. It is just that it is messy.
Yes, the Staedtler Mars Plastic (No. 526 50) work very well, I like them better than the pink type as they leave less of a mess.
Any type of Pencil Eraser works quite well for getting the oily film of railheads and general gunk including wet paint. You’ll need something stronger for the dry paint and dirt spots etc.
New erasers do shed quite a bit, esepecially the softer ones. But find an OLD pencil with an eraser and it’s usually turned hard by age. Then it barely sheds at all.
I’m moving away from using any abrasive cleaning products except for an initial cleanup of my pre-weathered track railheads. The much less abrasive qualities of erasers makes them good for the occassional scrubbing still needed.
I have to agree that I like old erasers and those ones from Staples the best.
[#offtopic] Note: Its nice to see someone on here around where I’m at!!
Hi Delmar,
If you’d like to attend a NMRA Illinois Terminal Division meeting, they’re held at the old downtown Urbana Post Office (now the Independent Media Center) at 202 S. Broadway in Urbana. The ones scheduled right now are Sept. 12, Oct. 10, and Nov. 14 from 6:30-8:30pm.
At our August meeting, someone brought a motorcar – not a model, but 1:1 – in the back of their van. It was a nice van and the motorcar was pretty spiffy, too.
The division extends REALLY far south, way south of Newman anyway, but if there’s interest and someone has a meeting location, we’d be glad to consider that for future meetings.
We’re planning a clinic/show-and-tell day for Saturday Oct. 28, at the same location, starting at 10am. Anyone with a clinic, a modular or mini layout, or models they just want to display should drop me a PM. With a little luck, I’ll have my Bachman G Shay running, so we should have running track if someone wants to bring anything like that.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled model railroading!
[;)]
That is about all a bright boy is, and it works well, so you might as well use a regular eraser for 1/4 the price!!
Been there. Done that. Works!
Chuck
I occasionally use a pencil or typewriter eraser to clean track. They work great and are less abrasive and much less costly than the Bright Boy, which is basically a glorified and pricey eraser.