I have been reading General Forums for some time, but just now decided to register, so I can post questions.
I have read several times about using MAAS to clean track. I’m not clear on if I can just put the MAAS on the tracks with a padded, rail cleaning car, and be done. Or will I have to wipe the track down with MAAS, then wipe it down again with a dry cleaning cloth. (would hate to mess up my track)
Thanks for any info on this subject…
Hope I can be an asset and not a liability to this forum.
You’re already an asset…you’ve asked a good question…in fact, one which I would like to see the answer to because I would like to polish my rails also.
MAAS leaves a film on the rails which must then be wiped off in a separate pass with a clean, dry rag, so it would be difficult to use with a track cleaning car.
As an alternative, Nevr-Dull Magic Wadding Polish is a one-pass metal poli***hat does a good job, too, and requires less work. You should be able to find Nevr-Dull at any store that carries automotive cleaning supplies for mag wheels and chrome.
OkieRRr:
Welcome to the group as a participant.
My first question was, “what is MAAS” that I got an answer to by typing “MAAS” in the forum search area to produce 2 pages of posts that answered both your question and mine. Isn’t the internet grand! Even us “old guys” can get smart fairly quickly.
Best of luck with your track cleaning endeavors, and again welcome.
Will
Several MAAS users have reported that it helps to prevent re-oxidation. I don’t know if that is correct, but if it is, [tup]. As to wiping it off after application, I would put a small dab on a piece of cloth, and attempt to perform a single, slow swipe along one part of the rail. Hopefully, that deliberate, as opposed to typically quick rub, would both clean the deposits, and cause them to remain with what MAAS is reuptaken by the clean parts of the cloth that rub the rail after the MAAS. So, I would not rub it again with the expectation that what does remain will inhibit oxidation.
Maybe someone can tell us with reasonable certainty that it truly does inhibit oxidation?
I wouldn’t know… I couldn’t find the stuff around here if my life depended on it. I have tried
Wally World, Home Depot and Lowes. They all have other types of metal polish, but no
Maas. Must be a regional thing. Dave
I use an old piece of HO cork roadbed material (Midwest brand) and put a little of the polish on the cork. I then rub the rails and usually do about 4 to 6 feet at a time. I then use a clean piece of cork to buff the rails to remove the haze that forms after the polish dries. And that is it! I just continue doing sections and buffing the rails.
I do not get any polish on the sides of the rails unless I put too much on the cork.
As for the polish leaving anything on the rails, what ever it is, it keeps the rails from collecting dirt.
I am doing scenery work on the layout and very seldom cover the track. I just wipe the rails with a piece of clean cork roadbed or a paper towel across the area I have been working at and then I just run the trains.
I was skeptical at first that this stuff could not be as good as they claimed! But after trying it and eliminating having to clean the engine wheels 3 and 4 times a night or cleaning the track at all, I became a believer.
I have all of the rail cleaning cars and tried very cleaning fluid I could think of to clean the track. But that is what all of them did, they just CLEANED the track. The metal polish cleans and protects just as car polish does to an auto finish.
To find maas polish, go to your search engine and type in maas polish. You will find loads of sites that sell the stuff and instead of spending a fortune in gasoline, running all over the place to find it, you will pay a small shipping charge.
Hey folks…with gasoline at $3.00 a gallon, $6.95 shipping is starting to sound like a bargain, especially when you factor in the wear and tear on your car and the time you’re wasting. Also, consider all those fender-benders you might be missing.