I was thinking I would clean this up with sandpaper and or judicious use of naval jelly and then coat with a little oil or grease. I don’t think painting is the right approach to avoid further rust, although Blacken-It may be a good choice. Looking for your actual experience with dealing with rust; what have you done or seen done that seemed acceptable? Thanks- Mike
A lot of us spend a lot of effort in achieving that rusty look - so why not just leave it?
Mike, you are talking about the power pick side frames right? Only part that need to be clean is where the power is picked up. Surfaces rust on the out side will not hurt the conductive of the side frame.
Cuda Ken
There are only a couple of electrical contact areas that you need to be concerned about the rust. I mean, if the metal is corroded to heck that’s another story, but some light surface rust can be cleaned off the bolster to frame and also the square notches where the bronze bushings contact. If you store or your layout is in a damp location maybe some dilectric grease may be in order to help w/ electrical contact. I wouldn’t rely ont that contact strip, just solder wires to the top motor clip. This should be done regardless of any corrosion factor.
I generally paint the sides with grimey black when detailing the sideframes and wheelsets anyway…