I have a question. I am cleaning up my old AF equipment. I have tons of the old style original AF track. Some of the ties have light surface rust. Do you think it would OK to paint the ties with POR 15 rust stopper paint?
Also, some of the ties are a little loose. Is it a good idea to squeeze down the metal tabs that hold the rails to the ties or is there supposed to be a little wiggle room? I wouldn't want to ruin the insulation between the ties and rail.
Thanks.
3 in 1 oil usually will do a good job of removing light surface rust. POR 15 would be overkill in my opinion. As for tightening the ties, just squeeze the tabs until the tie is secure.
I use a light oil and a Dremel tool with a wire brush to remove light surface rust on the ties of original flyer track. That method is also good for light rust on the bottom of cars and on early style link coupler trucks. 3&1 or WD 40 or Break Free all work well. Make sure you wear safety glasses, I am always surprised at the distance the wire flies and what it will penetrate when it breaks off the brush.
As far as squeezing the metal tabs, I have done it with no adverse effect and no bends in the metal tabs. I use snip nose pliers.
I have used the tips of the snip nose pliers to open the tabs in order to get at the ties and then reversed the process to tighten the rails in place, again with no adverse effect.
I don't like the idea of painting the ties. I have successfully removed rust with rubbing alcohol on a piece of cotton cloth.
Rich
Alton Junction
Timboy GUYS: Just a slight note of caution here. Loose tabs can surely be tightened as several guys have pointed out. And they can also be loosen, as Rich pointed out. However, they were not made to be loosened and tightened repeatedly. Through experience, I know that I can loosen them twice and maybe three times to make whatever adjustment I want to with tie spacing, tie removal or centering of the insulation. But after that, I run the risk of breaking one of the tabs off. I know that is not the thrust of this discussion, but I thought it was as good as any place to mention it. -Timboy
GUYS: Just a slight note of caution here. Loose tabs can surely be tightened as several guys have pointed out. And they can also be loosen, as Rich pointed out. However, they were not made to be loosened and tightened repeatedly. Through experience, I know that I can loosen them twice and maybe three times to make whatever adjustment I want to with tie spacing, tie removal or centering of the insulation. But after that, I run the risk of breaking one of the tabs off. I know that is not the thrust of this discussion, but I thought it was as good as any place to mention it.
-Timboy
Tim,
I have to agree with you on the topic of repeated bending of the metal tabs. I have never done it more than once or twice. But, on a crappy piece of track that I acquired on eBay with an otherwise nice set of track, before throwing out the bad piece, I scavenged the good metal ties. Then, I experimented with a bad one by bending the metal tab back and forth till it broke. It only took about 8 to 10 bends to destroy the metal tabs.
Thank you for all the responses. And thanks for the heads up on safety glasses, Major, I didn't think of that.
But I am puzzled about one thing. Wouldn't putting light oil or WD-40 on the ties make the ties, well, oily. Wouldn't that make the track messy to work with? Not to mention the mess the kids would make if they got oil on their fingers!
I must be missing something! I figured paint would dry and be permanent. Thanks again.
Just wipe the oil off afterwards. Painting the ties is something that I'd think one would regret later. It would look out of place and draw your eye more than the rust would IMHO.
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