I bought some stuff at the LHS called Track Zap. It is supposed to clean up any existing rust and retard the rust from forming again.
I can't give you any results yet, as I haven't used itit, but it may be worth looking into.
George
Thanks everyone. I've decided to go with GarGraves Phantom Nickle Silver track.
Aloha!
Coat the track with WD40. Don't spray it on! Spray some on a cloth and rub it on the track. By all means run a dehumidifier in your train room. Some people run two dehumidifiers. Be sure to get a quiet one.
trainrat I can only maybe suggest coating your track with a light oil like WD-40 on a rag. I had a large layout in a basement. Air handler and A/C coil near it. During the summer while I was gone for days, the rust would hit regular Lionel "tin plate". I use to spray the whole track with a light coat of WD-40. Never had a problem after that. It will attack rubber tires eventually. Never had a problem with that either. Roger
I can only maybe suggest coating your track with a light oil like WD-40 on a rag. I had a large layout in a basement. Air handler and A/C coil near it. During the summer while I was gone for days, the rust would hit regular Lionel "tin plate". I use to spray the whole track with a light coat of WD-40. Never had a problem after that. It will attack rubber tires eventually. Never had a problem with that either.
Roger
See the red. Now I am on Nickle Silver and have no problem.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
balidas Gargraves makes 3 different rail combos, tinplated rails, stainless steel outside rails with center rail blackened and all 3 rails stainless steel. Have fun choosing!
Gargraves makes 3 different rail combos, tinplated rails, stainless steel outside rails with center rail blackened and all 3 rails stainless steel.
Have fun choosing!
Don't forget the most popular: tinplated rails with black center rail(standard "Phantom" rail track).
And then you have your choice of wood ties or plastic, rigid & flex.
Rob
My sincere thanks to everyone for thier tips and recommendations. My layout is a modest 12x4 feet with 5 swithes onto sidings leading to "industrial areas" with adjacent Lionel accessories (Saw Mill, Gantry Crane, Coal Loader, etc) located in my living room. Climate control and dehumidfying is not an option for me as my house is very open. I have been using WD40 but it has only marginally helped wiht the problem. Based on your recommendations/tips I think I am going to investigate Atlas O or GarGraves track options.
Thank you all very much for your advice and the warm welcome into the forum.
Depending on the size of your layout, would it hurt to cover it with plastic sheeting while you're away?
That would be my recomendation as well. If you have a basement, and I realize a lot of people don't, that would be the best place. But any room would do as long as you can seal it and keep it climate controlled. (I've never been to Hawaii but I have spent time in Bangkok which has a similar climate.)
Goo Gone: A citrus based cleanser that's great at dissolving adhesives. And many of the adhesives it's best at removing are rubber (latex) based. So yes, goo gone will dissolve traction tires and many types of plastics. It might be OK for cleaning all steel tubular track (i.e. no plastic roadbed) but only if you also clean the rails afterward with a mild detergent to get rid of the citric residue.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Aloha! My recommendation is to also examine why the atmosphere where you run trains is so humid (beyond the obvious of course). Maybe sealing the space, running a dehumidifier or air conditioner would be easier than swapping out track or adding something to the track.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
For myself I use Wahl Clipper Oil on my track.It puts a coating on the track that helps prevent rust.Also when using it the track stays moist helping to make a better connection.The train will run well when using this oil even if the track is quite dirty.
Concur with trainrat on the use of Goo Gone. I recieved a supply of it from the company that sold me a track cleaning car. Shortly after using the Goo Gone, my locos with rubber tires started throwing them off. Something in the Goo Gone caused them to stretch out.
I also have quite a few insulated rail sections and after the Goo Gone dried, it apparently left a film, because the wheels rolling over the insulated rail sections would spark prodiguously after a Goo Gone treatment. Eventually, it would wear off and the sparking stopped. The track cleaning car works fine however. I just either use its roller dry or with denatured alcohol.
Other than the above mentioned changing over to new track type I can only maybe suggest coating your track with a light oil like WD-40 on a rag. You would of course have to clean it off very good before running trains again. I do NOT suggest using Goo- Gone for ANYTHING. It will attack rubber tires eventually.
Have you heard of Gargraves track? They make a stainless steel track that don't rust like Lionel's track will do. However you will have to change over to Gargraves or Ross track completely to keep the rust off of your tracks.
Also I had a problem with Lionel's Fastrac getting dirty quickly(no rust, just dirt) and I live in south Florida near West Palm Beach, so humidity is also a problem at times for me. Lionel's regular 031 track don't get half as dirty as Fastrac.
Lee F.
welcome to the site! lots of good people and info here. without knowing how big your layout is, it might be hard to suggest a solution. I remember reading a story, CTT I think, where the writer covered his switches with cardboard cut to the shape of the switces because they got rust, but the track didn't? . this might not be possible with a large layout. If you have a track cleaning car(I don't, but I can reach all my track), I stop cleaning my track towards the end of winter . this leaves a film of oil on the rails. my basement gets damp in the heavy rains, and in the fall when I run the trains more, I don't have rust, but I do clean the track a couple times.
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
I would have no problem running your trains while you are gone.
Atlas makes nickle silver 3-rail track, which should help considerably. Copy the link into your browser.
https://secure.atlasrr.com/ato1/items.asp?Cc=0900&Bc=
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
Not really, but I'd love to be faced with your problem...
Try an application of GOO GONE before you leave next time. Might retard the process.
And btw ---> to the forum.
I am currently running on Lionel Fastrack however my job requires me to travel often so I am not able to run my trains daily and often have to go 2-3 weeks at a stretch without running my trains. With the salt and moisture in the air that comes with living on a tropical island I am constantly battling rust on my track. Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of track that not so prone to rust?
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