Prewar castings?

[Anonymous]

Ok, here's one for the old timers. I have several prewar pieces that i wiped down with a thin coating of 3-in-1 household oil to preserve them and prevent them from rusting. Well what i want to know is if this is bad for the decay proned castings, as i know some oil's have detergents in them. If so how should they be cared for. Thanks, and i hope you all had a great christmas.

[lionelsoni]

The "decay" that you mention is caused by zinc that was contaminated from the start, probably by lead. I doubt that detergent would make a difference. Unfortunately, oil won't make any difference either.

[Anonymous]

I have several HO locos that were made by Rivarossi, that crumble to the touch! They were made with contaminated metal, or so i was told. I finally had to put them away, for parts, since they are crumbling more and more as time goes by! I don't have a layout, as my kids grew up and aren't interested any more. And, they never stay in one place long enough to build a layout!