Hello everybody,
I was searching for track cleaning cars and came across Railzip. Who is using it and what are your thoughts and results on the product? Also can you put it in a track cleaning car that uses a roller to clean the tracks?
Here is a link to the product in question http://www.fskidmoreproducts.com/id43.htm
Thank you for the info
Frank
We used to use it at the club, but don’t anymore. It would work for a little while to promote conductivity, but eventually would absorb dirt/crud and turn into a non-conductive sludge that needs to be manually wiped off.
Far as we can tell, it’s probably just transmission fluid.
I used it years ago. It seems to help clean dirty track, but you have to use it regularly. I didn’t think it was any more effective than a Bright Boy. My guess is a good metal cleaner would be just as effective.
Enjoy
Paul
Frank,
I have used used Railzip and had the same results as Chris mentioned, after 2 or 3 weeks it seems to cause the formation of a black greasy substance on track and wheels which has to be manually cleaned off. I don’t think it will work in a track cleaning car as the instructions say to apply it without rubbing then wait for 12 hours for it to do its job. It also seems to slowly leak out of its own bottle causing a sticky deposit on the outside.
Dave
Someone left a small bottle of it at the club. I tried it a couple of times but had the same results as previously mentioned. Initially, it seems to improve electrical contact, but eventually the rail winds up with a lot of black, sticky gunk on it that has to be cleaned off. I think what is happening is that RailZip dissolves the dirt off of rolling stock wheels and deposits it onto the rail.
Railzip gets dirt loosend up from wheels and then it is a dirt collector on the rails. I don’t recommend using it or Goo-Gone for track cleaning.
The Centreline track cleaner works well. I use mineral spirits to moisten the roller cloth. Don’t use lacquer thinner or MEK as the solvent attacks plastic. To clean the track I push the Centreline track cleaner followed by the Walthers track cleaning boxcar with a Geep Nine.
I clicked on your link to see what this stuff looks like; I seem to recall trying this on my locomotive wheels some years back but never did try it as a track cleaner. I discovered that if you keep your track cleam your loke wheels will stay pretty clean; I also discoverd that the best track cleaning material available is a Bright Boy soaked liberally in a product called Elbow Grease.
I thought they took that stuff off the market saying it was hazardous to your health![:P]
The club I was in we made a track cleaning train, one car was one of the Ulrich cars with a tank, I put alcohol in that, I customized plastic piping to the pads to deliver the alcohol better. Then in the train a couple of those brass roller cars that has a center loose roller. This got pulled around the layout a couple of times or so.
I have railzip at home and for now I don’t have a serious layout I use it to kinda regenerate the track a bit.
I actually put it on moving electrical surfaces such as wiper pickups on locos or like a semi-lube where electrical contact occurs.
I think no matter what you do your going to be elbow greasing the rails from time to time, I think Railzip will try to break thru some crud then you will be wiping it off somehow sometime.
We had also these small rectangular pads we soaked in alcohol and ran them over the rails, that worked pretty good.
I think after the track cleaning train was ran I put railzip down and ran a bit again.
I know I have de-dirted a lot of ho wheels thick with built up crud, when it gets that thick it becomes a derail problem as it makes the flanges useless.
Railzip is Dexron III automatic transmission fluid.
whatever it is I find it creates more of a problem than it helps.
I also agree with the willy 6 sig on the Submarine [swg] ex SSBN617 and SSN698 here
link to said data?
TF is simply colored oil and if its that I don’t want it on my track or on my plastics.
Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) is hydraulic oil with lubricating and detergent qualities built into it. Detergent means it keeps the dirt in suspension. Any modern ATF formulation (post 1990 or so) is plastic compatible - you would be surprised at how many little plastic pieces there are in your transmission these days.
I like ATF for gears on model trains - it clings very well, and takes years to dry out. The 3 rail O boys who run exhibitions with continuous running for several days swear by the stuff because of how well it lasts. I also use it around the house in places where a grease or other oil attracts too much crud. ATF worked particularly well on the rollers and tracks of the sliding doors of my minivans. Grease just made a mess and got jammed with dirt and sand. Most oils got very dirty/and or dried up very quickly. ATF in the minivan sliding doors was good for 6 months without any attention.
Have never used Railzip, so can’t add anything there.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Thank you for all the great info.
Frank[:)]
Don’t know how true that is, but just to throw this out, that CRC 2-26 contact cleaner/lube works really well on my track. Doesn’t create excessive dirt build up like Railzip users have mentioned. (just the opposite) JFugate mentioned using a light oil on the rail heads to cut down on arching which makes track dirty faster. Seems to be the ticket for me!
Make sure to let it dry or follow with a dry cloth before running your trains though.