parts cleaning/ repair/ comment

[ED WHITFORD]

Hello all. anyone have any sujestions on cleaning trains both dicast & plastic.
I have jumped into the repair biusness, that my dad has been doing for years (approximently 45+ years) & i am starting or have been working with him on repairs. We have been doing the repair work for our one & only hobby shop in our area. The parts cleaner we use at my dads leavs a odor ion the trains( goes away after a few days) but i am doing repair out of my home & my better half dose not want me to clean them in the house. I am looking for something to clean with that is safe for all type of plastic & that is odor free that will work in a standard parts washer. I do the repair down in the basement of our home.

It would seen that model train repair is becomming a lost art as with model train or hobby shops with model trains in them. As i mentioned our local store is about 15-20 min drive from us the next one is about a hour away. While i do appreciate thier work comming our way, it seems odd that a hobby shop that takes in repair work would have more in the way of trains than what this one has. You could fit all of the train related items in a 16'x16' room.

I think alot of persons are forgetting that even in this day & age there are a lot of peaple out there who are not the tech curu's & don't like shopping from a screen in front of them or haveing a mother board in a train to make it run.
My dad always tells peaple that the old days of model trains or going out just as steam has, with just a few hanging on. If it don't involve a computer or or can do some high tech function they do not want anything to do with them.

I for one love my old trains, I can fix them without having to send a printer board out before i can get a new one. The same can be said for the parts makers of the model train world. There are some really great producers out there, unfortunatly just like my dad & me who do the repair, they to are a dying breed as the source of thier parts is getting fewer & fewer. I think it is high time that the mfd's of the model trains take a good long look at us who still play with the old ones (pre 80's ) & help to keep us who fix them & those who supply us with the parts to keep them chuggin down our own privet railroads.

Sorry for spelling & the long post i just keep going at times.
If you could help with my first question i would appreciate it.
Thank you for you time & God bless.

[dwiemer]

Ed,
Not sure about a odorless cleaner, at least not a good one. Some will say to use WD40, or mineral spirits, but they all have drawbacks and should not be used on certain parts. What cleaner are you using now? If it cleans well, perhaps you could fashion a vented area to do your cleaning. A vent hood is not that hard to build and you could vent out a window.
dennis

[ED WHITFORD]

Thank you dennis.
The parts washer i have now is farley large. I use it for my antiuqe tractor restoration parts. So i am open to any others out there, I try not to put small parts in that one.
If i could get one that would be safe for most or all the materials used in model trains, it would fit the bill fine. my dads is a little on but then i have the issuse that i mentioned before. I would have to look into the vent idea, i might be able to fabricate something for it.

Thank you again, take care.