I recieved an Tyco train set as a kid (about 25 years ago). It sat in storage for several years. I recently blew the dust off of it and spent some time cleaning it and getting it going. I believe the track is brass because it was tarnished. I spent hours cleaning and servicing the track as well as the rolling stock with mixed results. Is there a good way to clean it properly? I am very new to the hobby and have spent a lot of time visiting and reading anything I can find on the hobby but have found very little on reviving my brass track.
Try Maas (or other brand) metal poli***o remove the tarnish. The problem with brass track is that it oxidizes, and the oxide does not conduct electricity. That is why nickel silver is so popular now - its oxides do conduct electricity, so less cleaning is required.
The other thing to be sure to clean is the wheels and/or pickups on the engine. You can do this with a q-tip and some alcohol, or even run the wheels against a “BrightBoy” which is a kind of abrasive eraser.
I still have my old Bachmann set from the same era as your Tyco, and with a bit of cleaning it runs well today. It is still a train “set” quality toy, but its fun to go down memory lane… [:)]
Make sure you clean the ends where the rail joiners slide on. Either clean inside the railjoiners or replace them. In fact you probably should consider replacing the brass track with nickel silver. You won’t find much on brass track since it has been gone for a while (except for G gauge). Last train show I was at there was a box of it (used) for sale for $5, no one seemed interested. Also, nickel silver looks better as well.
As you clean the brass rail, don’t forget to poli***he inside edges of the rail as well as the top. The wheel flanges on the locomotive also need to be cleaned as much as the wheel surface, so the flanges can assist in electrical pickup when they touch the inside of the rail.
Assuming that the track you have is sectional, you need to also pay attention to the rail joints to insure good electrical conductivity between pieces of track. If you intend to permanently install the track on a layout and not just put it down on the floor and then take it back up every time you run the train, you should probably consider using nickel-silver flex track in 36" long pieces to eliminate as many rail joints as possible, or solder the brass track joints. Nickel-silver rail does not need as much cleaning as brass.
A Kadee locomotive wheel cleaner might be a good investment if you intend to keep and run this train regularly.
throw away the entire set and get some real model railroad equipment…tyco is considered a toy train and doesn’t meet the standards of most modelers…even the power packs are crummy…start with some nickel silver track…a few turnouts, and some good equipment like, athearn, kato, proto, mantua, atlas and the like…MRC makes good power packs…you might even get into DCC (radio controlled trains)…there have been many people get out of the hobby prematurely because their first railroads were the toy train sets and they were disheartened from the get-go because of the proplems inccured by such trains…there are loads of suppliers out there to get you started (on the internet, magazines, and hobby shops) …be sure you research the equipment before you buy…(ie…you may order code 70 track with all code 100 turnouts, or order equipment in the wrong gauge, ect…) welcome to the hobby!..Chuck
If you figure the amount of time it is going to take you to clean the brass track and what your wages are it is going to be easier to replace it with nickel silver. You will probably have to clean the brass ten times for each time you will need to clean the nickel silver. A hobby shop in your area should be able to help you take apart your engine and show you how to maintain it as I am fairly sure it has sentimental value to you.
I will take into consideration all things said! I like the idea of replacing with nickel silver but I also like the idea of keeping the old track. I will experiment with both as I develop my layout. I find it facinating that there are a mulitude of articles and books on making things look old. Why not find something that IS old to use?
That’s not a bad idea - you could build a layout using vintage equipment. I’ve seen this done with Hornby O-scale, Hornby Dublo, and Tri-ang equipment (as exhibition layouts - they basically built a track plan from the old catalogue/plan book and used “period” stock, track, etc). While these don’t reach modern expectations of detail, etc, they do look very impressive and are very popular with exhibition visitors from what I’ve seen.