As a newcomer to this activity, I find it interesting that there are so many similarities in the comments about preferences…what is RIGHT, WRONG, CORRECT, INCORRECT, etc. I’ve been restoring cars, tractors, and such, and it is EXACTLY the same ! Personally, I think its ALL GOOD…
That being said, my track question for tonight is: Having acquired a lot of old 0-27 and 0 gage track…is there an EFFECTIVE way to clean this stuff up. Some of it is really crusty/rusrty. Should I just can it all, or is there hope.
I should mention that my aim is to set up a “toy train” layout circa 1938 to 1948. ( I was unable to have one as a kid sob. sob )
I just rubbed some with very fine sandpaper adn then WD40. Some of mine that has been stored has done the same. It fixed it. Don’t care if it is not he accepted practice or not, it worked.
Hey, It’s your railroad. You can do what ever you want with it.
As for the track you can use a wire wheel attached to a bench grinder or simular mounted motor to clean it up. Or throw out the badly rusted and buy more.
The layout I am building is made up of mostly used O-27 track. Even rusty track can be rescued if you are willing to spend the time and elbow grease. If a track piece has just surface rust and grime, you can clean it with emory cloth or a Scotchbrite pad. Track cleaning fluid and a soft cloth can remove grime. Avoid oily fluids which can affect traction. IMPORTANT! Under NO circumstances should you use steel wool to clean track. You are asking for serious motor problems if you do.
Corroded track pins should be discarded and replaced. A circular needle file can be used to clean inside the rails where the pins go.
If a track section is rusted to the point it is pitted, it is probably best to discard it. Make sure that the insulation is still intact on the center rail where it connects to the sheet metal ties. If missing or deteriorated, you can make replacements with small pieces of electrical tape. Make sure that the metal tabs on the ties are not broken. You might want to scavenge ties from some less desireable track sections.
I know one guy that soaked rusty track in clean motor oil for a few days then rinsed the track in water with Dawn dishwashing detergent, before going over it with fine sandpaper. (He used an air hose from a compressor to blow out the water.) He claims it worked well. That’s more trouble than I’d go to.
Well, you can use a wire bru***o start with. Myself, coming across a LOAD of o gauge track, put it all in my sandblaster and blew the rust off. Since I will be painting the outside rails a rust color (didn’t I just take rust off???) and the inside a yet to be determined color, it wont really matter that my blasting took off all the nickle on the track. And since it was already rusted, there was no protective nickle left anyway. I set my blaster to a lower pressure (I use glass beads in the machine) about 55psi, and it does a nice job, and doesn’t take off the black on the ties. You can do alot of track fast this way.
If you are doing O-27, it might be easier just to buy new, its pretty cheap, I think its $0.99 for a straight section.
What ever you decide to do, be careful of the insulators on the center rail. They are a cardboard like fiber, and can be damaged if soaked in any liquid. Be careful with any abrasives near them too, especially the wire wheel if you choose that method.
Keep in mind, you only need to clean the top surface of track. The prototype has some awful gritty gunk on the sides of its rail. Weathered track at its best!
I’d also recommend all new track pins and the needle file mentioned earlier.
I just insulated a bunch of track with black pressboard cut from a cheap binder. It looks to be identical to the original insulators, in thickness, texture, and color. So far, I have had no trouble with it.
I believe that tubular track is plated with tin, not nickel. Modern plumbing solder is almost pure tin; and you can replate the rails with it. There is no real need to replate anything but the top of the rail head.
To echo Bob, I learned from Brianel to do the very same thing with ‘shirt cardboard’ - it worked. I’ve also been experimenting with his use of tinfoil.