The 11 Myths of Model Railroading - Myth #3

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

The 11 Myths of Model Railroading

#1 – Zero maintenance layout (2200 sq ft layout) – You can’t maintain a large layout by yourself
#2 – DCC 8 amp boosters and welding engine wheels of the engine derails
#3 – Track Cleaning – Never again!
#4 – Reverse Loops – Using a toggle switch with DCC
#5 – Not removing ties on flex track
#6 – IDC connectors - #M scotch locks/Suitcase connectors for track wiring-NEVER
#7 - The Rolling Stock Truck Tuner tool & why do you need one
#8 – Soldering Track Joints
#9 – Homasote Expansion vs Wood
#10 – DCC and you have to modify the turnouts – YOU DON”T
#11 – Homasote Cost – making a mess when cutting – You Don’t have to make dust when cutting

PLW the MRR Myth Busters – #3 - The Myth is:

You have to clean your track all the time

No you don’t! This Myth was busted back in July of 2003.

It has been 35 months (that’s 1 month short of 3 years now) since I have cleaned ANY track on my home layout (and we run OPs sessions every other week)!

I had a Mini OP in April (2006) and did not waste time cleaning my track for that and had 24 operators in to run the layout. All of the sound engines ran great!

So what is my secret? Metal Polish!

I don’t use sanding sponges or blocks, erasers or any kind of Alcohol, paint thinner, Goo-Gone nor any other liquid. Neither do I use any kind of cleaning car.

Just used a little metal polish on an old piece of HO cork and hand rubbed on the rails and then buffed the rails again with a clean piece of cork.

Prior to the metal polish I was spending hours cleaning the track to get ready for an OPs session. And then we had to keep cleaning the engine wheels several times through out the evening OPs. And I had every type of cleaning car there was and none of them did any good as I still had to clean the track over and over again. I was not happy way back then!

2

Have I got news for you. [:)] My club’s layout has used MAAS metal polish…and it wasn’t any better than anything else. The track is constantly getting dirty even after polishing. You clean an engine, clean the track, and within one loop, the engine’s dirty again. All plastic wheels have been banned from the layout, and we’ve tried just about every method for track cleaning, and it’s all the same…not good.

IMHO, it’s the environment that causes the worst of our dirty track. For example, my home layout runs weekly since 2002, with over 250 cars (and well over 200 of them still have plastic wheels). I only clean my track maybe twice a year with soft “bright boy” (it’s one of those large ones). If I polished it, I’d probably get similar results to yours.

However, my home layout is in a (mostly) finshed basement with a sealed floor. 75% of the ceiling is covered, and all the walls are finished. There is no HVAC, and there’s only 3 or so of us down there at any one time (6 at the most). And it stays very clean.

At my club, we have forced air HVAC, ceiling fans that run 24/7, two industrial dehumidifiers, a sealed floor, and a 100% finished room. We also have 62 members, and there’s always someone there on a daily basis (with 20 or more on our bi-weekly meeting nights).

Our latest theory is that while our club looks like an office building inside, it’s a very dirty place as the floor is thick with dust, sand, dirt, etc. We do sweep up, but we think that’s just moving the dust around more than picking it up. We haven’t vacuumed the floor or mopped it since we sealed the floor over 6 years ago. I think it’s time, as everytime someone walks down the aisles, they stir up the dust. Everytime the HVAC comes on, it stirs up the dust. Everytime the dehumidifiers come on, it stirs up the dust. Heck, even when we sweep, we stir up the dust. But since it’s a 6300 sq ft room, it’s not going to get clean overnight.

Sorry, but your assertion that

3

Well if you are kicking up dust as you walk the aisles I would say this would bust any myth. Geeze…clean up the joint and see if things change. Six years since you cleaned the floor? And I thought our clubs problems with getting the kids to take the trash out was bad!!!

I cleaned Bobs track in July 2003. Aint cleaned it since too busy running trains flawlessly!!.

4

Maybe some of us should clean AROUND our layout, then, and between that maintenance and using a metal polish, there would not be a requirement for either of you to clean your rails?

5

My layout is in an unfinished garage, which sucks, and is the reason Im not laying track untill it is fully cleaned, and maybe finished. Dont know about finishing it since its not mine but you never know. My last layout the mainline laid and I had polished the rails with MAAS. It got crazy, I had to polish about every 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes within 10 minutes. This was after I had cleaned the garage.

Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

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northernsubpcrr,
When I said we stirred up dust as we walked, I was not saying that we are all a bunch of “Pigpens” from Peanuts with a cloud around our feet as we walk around the layout. [:)]

As I said we do sweep on a regular basis, but obviously sweeping isn’t enough.

Our layout is still under major construction, as only about 1/3rd of the total benchwork has been built yet. And we only have operations about 5 or 6 times a year (and even then, the building crews whine about how it’s taking away from working on the RR). That is why the club is in the state it’s in…we’re still building it. www.ssmrc.org

But to say that merely polishing your rails will mean you won’t have to constantly clean your track is silly. My club is proof of that (unfortunately).

I believe that if one was to polish one’s rails AND keep one’s layout and layout room in a hermetically sealed condition, then one would probably never have to touch the track ever again. [;)]

But my point here is that it takes more than poli***o keep the track clean.

Paul A. Cutler III

Weather Or No Go New Haven

7

cmrproducts [or anyone else] I don’t know what MAAS is, maybe we don’t get it here. Is is a brass, silver or what polish? Thanks ahead of time.

8

Paul, I doubt that Bob will concede your point. He seems a little doctrinaire about his “11 Myths”, most of which I hadn’t ever heard of. [:)]

All the best,

Mark.

9

BOB H: What is myth #4 about? I would like the hear your take on it.
I have 2 reverse loops that I operate with a toggle switch in DCC. I will problably replace 1 of them a auto-reverse unit soon but the toggle switches are alot cheaper to start with. ( I don’t have an unlimited train budget)

10

You don’t need MAAS specifically. Canadian Tire sells a couple of metal mag wheel polishes in their auto section, one of which is Black Magic. Use that.

And for what it’s worth at this point, I believe that it will do a good job on the track, but also am dubious that it will eliminate cleaning entirely. I don’t think it is a waste of time to vacuum periodically, and why not do the layout, or at least the tracks, while you’re at it?

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[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3

Have I got news for you. [:)] My club’s layout has used MAAS metal polish…and it wasn’t any better than anything else. The track is constantly getting dirty even after polishing. You clean an engine, clean the track, and within one loop, the engine’s dirty again. All plastic wheels have been banned from the layout, and we’ve tried just about every method for track cleaning, and it’s all the same…not good.

IMHO, it’s the environment that causes the worst of our dirty track. For example, my home layout runs weekly since 2002, with over 250 cars (and well over 200 of them still have plastic wheels). I only clean my track maybe twice a year with soft “bright boy” (it’s one of those large ones). If I polished it, I’d probably get similar results to yours.

However, my home layout is in a (mostly) finshed basement with a sealed floor. 75% of the ceiling is covered, and all the walls are finished. There is no HVAC, and there’s only 3 or so of us down there at any one time (6 at the most). And it stays very clean.

At my club, we have forced air HVAC, ceiling fans that run 24/7, two industrial dehumidifiers, a sealed floor, and a 100% finished room. We also have 62 members, and there’s always someone there on a daily basis (with 20 or more on our bi-weekly meeting nights).

Our latest theory is that while our club looks like an office building inside, it’s a very dirty place as the floor is thick with dust, sand, dirt, etc. We do sweep up, but we think that’s just moving the dust around more than picking it up. We haven’t vacuumed the floor or mopped it since we sealed the floor over 6 years ago. I think it’s time, as everytime someone walks down the aisles, they stir up the dust. Everytime the HVAC comes on, it stirs up the dust. Everytime the dehumidifiers come on, it stirs up the dust. Heck, even when we sweep, we stir up the dust. But since it’s a 6300 sq ft room, it’s not going to get c

12

I have posted this in response to track cleaning before and I will restate it here. I live in the FLorida Keys with the Atlantic a couple hundred yards to the east and the gulf of mexico is one block to the west. The humidity is very high most of the year. I tried the Maas polish. I spent several hours using cork chunks to apply and buff the rails. i have a modest 12 x 14 ATR. I noticed an immediate improvement in my soundtraxx LC equipped locos. However within a week I was running my CMX. So my point is just because something works for you does not automatically make it a universal cure all for the entire hobby excluding all other methods. Your environment I think will dictate which method of rail cleaning is going to work for you. Experiment with differant methods and choose the one that seems to work for your environment and layout. I remotored an old 1984 Athearn BB F7A and its only function is cleaning duty. So once a week or so I run the CMX machine around the layout and I’m good to go. How much work is that? Very little and I’m running trains.
Terry

13

Well, it has been almost 2 months since I used Blue Magic metal polish on my track. I haven’t had to clean the track since. I live in a rural area where there’s a lot of dust from dirt roads and my home ain’t the cleanest. There’s dust everywhere and a window AC that runs 24/7 (literally) unit blows directly across my layout. If the metal poliactic doesn’t work, I can’t tell it. It works extremely well for me. BTW, most of my rolling stock has plastic wheels. If the MAAS metal polish didn’t work, perhaps it has something to do with the polish. I had the same problem with a couple of brands which shall remain nameless. I’m a firm believer in this metal poliactic. If it doesn’t work, somebody better tell my layout so it can stop staying clean, despite a dusty environment.

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I think enviroment is key also. My layout is inside the house in a spare bedroom. I noticed a while ago that I have been happily running trains and haven’t had to clean the track every few days as I did a few months ago.

The only thing I can figure that’s different is that we’re not running the heater now that the weather is warmer. Our house has a typical central heating system with ducts to each room. There is a filter but even so it must be depositing dust and what not on the layout. The vent is near the ceiling, unfortunately, so anything that comes through will rain down on the layout (even thought the thing is closed as far as it will go).

I have used metal polish, too, several varieties in fact. It didn’t stop me from having to clean the track every so often. I also have a fleet with 100% metal wheels on everything. Lately I’ve been running without polish, just using a bright boy here and there on occasion if I spot some crud on the rails. I have a couple homemade masonite pad track cleaner cars that I can run around, too, if necessary.

In short I think this is a problem with a lot of variables. Everyone’s layout is different, the construction is different, and the space it occupies is different. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution to cleaning track. What works great for one person may not work so good for another.

15

selector cool thanks, and a Canuck to boot LOL.
In all the forums you are the only one so far who answered that question. Thanks again. [:D]