restoring old O gauge track (not rusty)

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of Lionel O gauge track that is about 40 years old. It appears to be in good shape but a person who fixes model trains thought it would be no good due to the pin holes being too difficult to clean. Does anyone know effective cleaning techniques for salvaging this track or is it not worth the effort. I have plenty of time to do the work. I just hate the thought of discarding about a 100 feet of track. I am in my 90's and bought the Lionel Santa Fe diesel in 1952 with all the running stock. Thanks for your help.

[lionelsoni]

If it's not rusty, I would bet that it's useable. Don't try too hard to clean it. Don't use steel wool. All that really needs to be clean is the very top of the rails. You can probably do that best with a Scotch-brite pad. If you tighten up any loose rail-end holes with long-nose pliers by pinching the rail web together until the pins fit snugly, that may suffice for the connections. However, if you are going to fasten it down permanently for a layout, I recommend soldering the rails together at the joints, so as not to depend on the pins for a good electrical connection, whether the track is old or new.

I gather that you're taking Lionel's advice, that it's never too late to have a happy childhood!

[nitroboy]

It would be a good idea to clean the inside of the rails where the pins go together. I use a small round file, or my Dremel tool with a small grinding bit on the end. Scotch-brite pads are the best thing to use on the top of the rails. If you are going to use a lock-on for the track power, clean the rails where the lock on will be too.

[ben10ben]

To clean the inside of the rails, I use a drill bit slightly smaller than the inside of the rail, and spin it at slow speed while making sure it touches all the sufaces inside. I've had very good luck using this technique to clean up and use very, very rusty track that most would not have even considered using.

[Algonquin]

Hi Bill,

The following link will take you to the Lionel website where they have some recommendations on cleaning old track. I hope this will help.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

http://www.lionel.com/ForTheHobbyist/Findex.cfm

[daan]

Just redo the joining of the track a few times, the pinns will remove the dirt. I use prewar marklin tracks without having them cleaned on the pins and it works fine.