Hi all, a thought occured to me ( yep i get one at least once a year) and i have not seen this discused, so its either a really dumb question or its really brilliant ( and i am bettin on the dumb side) i know and do clean my track regularly and also the wheels on my locomotives, but what about the wheels on the rolling stock? like i said i have not read or heard of this, and if it needs to be done how would one go about it, i am in N-scale so we are talking some small wheels here, any thoughts?, thanks.
I use alcohol on a paper towel and roll the cars back and forth…It works quite well…You can also do this as you run a train…Just run the train over the towel…
I remember an artical were an old tape deck rubber pinch wheel was used to drive the wheels
I to have that idea someplace
maby next year
I dont like the wirebrush type cleaners
K
That’s a great idea…hope you find the article or link and post it to share…
That’s the same method I use for cleaning the wheels of the cars.
January’s MR has an article on just this topic. I don’t use the power tools, instead I just hold a flat blade screwdriver on the wheel tread and rotate the other wheel with my thumb. And it’s true, metal wheelsets collect a lot less crud than plastic!
I’ve tried several methods but i like this small wire brush best
Since I am basically lazy, I usually trid to find a process that automates chores like this. What I do is remove the wheel sets and pop them into a zippered mesh dishwasher bag and toss it in the upper rack when I do dishes! You can find these at places like Walmart. If you have plastic wheels, this may or may not work due to the water temp in the dishwasher. I have run bags of P2K wheel sets(metal wheels, nylon axles) through the dishwasher with no problem.
Jim
Last time I cleaned mine, I used a Q-tip with a little shot of lighter fluid on it an rotated the wheels to clean them off. For me it was a long process with over 100+ cars to do.
I’ve used several methods, including the wire brush and eraser type cleaners. Mostly I use Q-tips with 91% alcohol on them. My whells are metal but they still collect crud. I find more frequent inspections and cleanings makes for easier cleaning since the crud doesn’t get a chance to build up and harden.
Tilden
If you use a centerline or other type of track cleaning car, the wheels will be cleaned with the track. Still, separate cleaning of loco and rolling stock wheels is necessary, just not as often.
In the January issue of MR, they use a wire wheel in a Dremel with NYLON bristles. I used to use a wire wheel with metal bristles, but it left small scratches in the wheel, which attracts and holds MORE dirt, leading to more gunk build up.
I use a sonic jewelry cleaner for wheels, including plastic. I take them off the trucks, drop them in the tank, pusher a button, wait 2 minutes, dry’em off, re-install, done. If they’re real dirty I run them through twice. I clean the trucks with alcohol and a Q-tip.
inch
Cleaning loco wheels and NOT cleaning car wheels? never heard of that, also I still use brass track and all I hear is how bad it it is, why are all you nickel silver track guys worried about dirty wheels? isn’t the nickel track supposed to prevent it???