Sparking wheels and dirty track

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have a a couple of locomotives that have steel wheels. They are both small (4-4-2T and 4-2-0T) so there is little option for extra pickup. They have rim scraper pickups made from phosphor-bronze, brass and steel wire (in an attempt to find something that doesn’t spark).

The problem is that the wheels spark when they are going down the track and leave little dots of black crap on the track and wheels treads (an even pitting on the 28" wheels on the 4-2-0T!). As a result they need a lot of cleaning.

I have Peco code 75 nickel silver rail which i clean with either an abrasive track cleaning block or Brasso (is this right of should it be Silvo? I was led to believe that nickel silver is mainly brass anyway).

so: does anyone know of anything i can use to stop the sparks? I get small blue ones with steel wipers, small yellow ones with steel wheels and phosphor-bronze or brass wipers and enomous yellow ones with brass wheels (unplated) and brass wipers.

Thanks,
Neil

2

Regular track cleaning (dry abrasive) followed by a sparse application of light oil (e.g. Wahl’s Clipper Oil) is my method.
Actually I use a special cleaning train, usually with two locos and up to 4 cleaning cars (e.g. the Roco 40’ freight car with sprung pad slung beneath), for both operations.

3

The only way a spark can be created is by intermittent contact. This can and is usually caused by dirt or other contaminants. The other cause is pitting of the wheels. If your wheels are damaged where the pickups make contact you will need to resurface them to make the contact area smooth.