Just about to install some brand new Atlas Code 83 track that I just received, before running locomotives do I need to “clean” the new track?
I always do - I run a brite boy over it a couple times. Don’t know if it’s really necessary, but it ensures there’s nothing on the railhead, either from the manufacturing process or my installation process (I use adhesive caulk to lay the track).
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Yes. Like Mark, a quick clean just in case there is anything on the track.
David
My advice is going to be contrary to Mark and David’s. I would AVOID the brite boy and clean your track with 91% or > alcohol. A brite boy is slightly abrasive and will introduce micro-scratches into the smooth surface of your new rail, which will lead to trapping gunk and more needed track cleaning.
Tom
So they say, about Brite Boy that is. I clean track with denatured alcohol, but for tough grime I do use a Brite Boy.
Rich
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Actually, I’d post contrary advice to all the above. I wouldn’t clean it with a brite boy due to the abrasion issue, but I also wouldn’t use alcohol for the job.
The January 2024 Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine had a follow-up article on track cleaning solvents. The bottom line was that solvents with a low dielectric constant made much better track cleaning compounds.
Stuff like DeoxIT D5, Mineral spirits, CRC Contact Cleaner & Protectant or WD-40 Contact Cleaner were some of the good choices.
Very poor choices were things like Isopropyl alcohol, Acetone, Lacquer thinner, etc. due to their high dielectric constant.
The bottom line is solvents with a high dielectric constant tend to promote micro-arcing as you run and cause the track to need much more frequent cleaning. The low dielectric constant solvents inhibit micro-arcing and the track stays clean much longer.
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For light cleaning, I just use a good old pink block pencil eraser. It don’t leave shavings and pickups up a lot of gunk.
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again – it’s not recommended to use something abrasive like a bright boy which leaves microscopic grooves that collect dirt or oxidation
i think this might be why “gleaming” works. Gleaming track is rubbing a hard piece of metal over the rails (when they’re clean). I think it smooths out microscopic grooves and pits. rails stay clearner longer
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Dunno, I real all of this stuff here and elsewhere about what to use and what not to use. To me, you just need to look at the results of your chosen method(s). As I say, I use denatured alcohol and, occasionally, a Brite Boy. I rarely have to clean my track, so those methods work for me.
Rich
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And that’s why they make Chocolate and Vanilla, flavors for everyone! 
I rarely clean my track as well, and typically I use my Trackman 2000 track cleaning car. I run it around as a load when I’m testing a repair, job done!
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The problem with a Brite Boy is that the abrasive is too coarse for the job: it leaves longitudinal scoring in the railhead that then both preferentially traps schmutz and leaves little sharp irregular corners for mictoarcing.
If you feel you need to remove “polar” or “high dielectric constant” wire-drawing aids or accumulated airborne grease from your railheads, use something with finer grit, like the last stages of rail gleaming before the burnishing. either with lapping film or some other product with the right grit or range.
Also don’t use abrasive that ‘self-sharpens’ by spalling off little hard particles that embed in the railhead metal. You won’t see them, but there are no particular advantages to have them there.
Saying to avoid isopropyl alcohol for rail cleaning is nonsense; it evaporates completely and doesn’t leave any residual oil or constituents on the surface after it has done so. There is no such thing as ‘conductive solvent cleaning’ just as there is no such thing as ‘conductive lubricant’ outside specialty products for the aerospace industry. Note that the Wahl clipper oil aficionadoes are intentionally putting high-dielectric-strength material directly on their railheads, by choice, and claiming an advantage in reduced arc problems – scientific analysis might prove a different mechanism for the ‘advantages’ and some very decided cumulative problems over time.
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A major write up and with extensive scientific testing of all cleaning products by Joe Fugate at Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine showed that everything that has been stated above is wrong!!!
First 91% alcohol is 9% water that will help at reattracting dirt 70% is 30% water…
The main item used found to be the best in every way shape and form is.
“Low Odor Mineral Sprits” will keep your wheels and track cleaner and longer than any other product on the market Joef proved it with extensive testing.
I have used every product ever made for model Railroading and Joef is 100% correct. I have a half a basement full well 22ft X 28ft layout with around 450 ft of track including both yards. I tried the Low Odor mineral sprits in November and cleaned every wheel on 314 cars and 27 HOn3 Engines Mostly Blackstone with another 9 Brass with DCC added.
I normally would clean my track every couple weeks and spend a couple hours just cleaning wheels.
Since I cleaned everything with the low odor Mineral Sprits I haven’t had one stall or hesitation and I still haven’t done more than a lite whip down with a clean cloth and I run my Trains 3 to 4 times a week the rest of the time I’m building Models.
It’s so nice to leave my work shop and go into the train room flip one switch grab an wireless and just start any train and they go every time. The only thing a brit boy is good for is removing the pre weathering from the top inside of every rail and for removing paint from the same, for general all purpose cleaning . Q-TIP and low order mineral sprits once the rail is clean (depending how long its been since you really cleaned you rail it may take a little scrubbing with multiple Q-TIPs until NO Black will come off on the Q-TIP it will stay clean and trains will run with much less cleaning for a few months try that with 91% alcohol your lucky to get a week.
Dan
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Denatured alcohol is wrong?
I think not.
Rich
I used to use goo gone but stopped after it attracted lots of dirt on the track. Now I use a dry eyeglass cleaner cloth and every thing runs good. Not much gunk on the track anymore,
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Check out this video on Proper track cleaning and WHY!!!
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Your experience. Not mine.
I will probably make a lot of people mad with this, but here it goes. I used to use 70% isopropyl alcohol until I first tried to ballast track. Then I got a bright boy for lifting that layer of glue off the rails from spraying the glue for the ballast. Still the combination I use today. My current layout is in an unfinished, not climate controlled basement in West Michigan. It gets cold down there in winter. I do try to keep the humidity under 50% during summer, but sometimes the dehumidifier makes the basement so hot I shut it off. My layout has been up for 10 years. Most of the track is recycled from previous layouts that had been built in garages, basements, bedrooms, etc. A bit of the track is over 25 years and multiple layouts old. Except for giving the rails a good scrubbing with a bright boy after painting or ballasting, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cleaned the rails in the 10 years the layout has been up. I grab whichever of the two options is readily available where I’m standing at the time (sometimes 70% iso alcohol, sometimes the bright boy).
What I’m getting at is what works best or which option provides the best bang for the buck likely depends on factors that are very different from one modeler’s layout to the next.
As for new track, I’ve never cleaned it. Installed it and ran trains.
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Denatured alcohol is great for instant cleaning but it is the worst for causing Black gunk to return fast Watch the Joef Video and learn.
I’m 72 and have been model railroading since I was 5 and I used Denatured alcohol for 50 years once a week. I tried the Mineral spirits 3 months ago and still no track or wheel cleaning is required because the black gunk is not drawn to the The rails with low odor mineral you won’t need to clean your track for about a year and the black gunk will be at a minimal then compared to what Denatured Alcohol causes in a week.
Watch the Video in my other post a find out what really will clean you tracks and wheels. It will save you a lot of work in the long run and your trains will operate much better.
It sound like your running DC only as track cleaning isn’t as big a problem as it is in DCC. I know DC cab control very well cause I built them for over 35 years and those old DC engines are great on a DC layout and I think I cleaned track once in a while in the problem area just use a little alcohol and trouble gone but with just a little dirt on a DCC track can cause big trouble everywhere so the cleaner the track and wheels the better the digital operation.
Dan
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Honestly, I think the “microscopic grooves” and “micro-arcing” are, for all practical purposes, just red herrings. Want to stop the black gunk build-up? Toss the plastic wheels! It’s really that simple.
So maybe a brite boy does abrade the railhead a bit. You’d have to clean the track thousands of times before a brite boy would wear away the railheads enough to be noticeable.
So there’s 30% water in 70% IPA. It’ll evaporate in short order. I think water vapor from the air will deposit on the rails a tiny bit anyway.
I’ve built (well, partially built) layouts in New Jersey, South Carolina and Wyoming using a lot of the same track in all locations. I run all metal wheels except for a very few of the Kadee conductive composite wheels on a few waycars (cabooses). I don’t get black gunk. I don’t get overly-aggressive erosion of locomotive wheels from “micro-arcing” because I used the wrong cleaner. After the initial installation and post-scenery cleaning I described above, all I ever do is run a John Allen-style homemade track cleaner car (a reefer that slides a masonite pad along the rails to brush off dust) around the layout before operating sessions (takes a long time - I have a lot of track to cover).
If you want to obsess over micro-arcing or microscopic grooves or low-dielectric cleaning fluids, be my guest. It isn’t my place to say you shouldn’t. But unless your layout is in a class 100 clean room where you wear bunny suits and masks whenever you’re in the room, I suggest your time could be better spent on something else.
Just my viewpoint.
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Oh, alright, I will try mineral spirits. I Googled, ‘what’s worse denatured alcohol or mineral spirits’, expecting to get mineral spirits as the answer. Au contraire! Denatured alcohol is worse, much more toxic than mineral spirits.
Rich