Well not really, but almost as bad! Grabbed the wrong oil to lube some wheel sets, and put light oil on the them. Of course it worked its way onto the tracks in the way heavy oil would not have, and now I have 15-20 feet of track where I get very bad slipping on a level stretch; train will barely move. What do I do to restore traction short of laying doiwn new track? And how do I clean the wheel sets so that I dont spread the problem?
I use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, it should clean the track and the wheels just fine.
De-natured alcohol and a piece of an old towel or washcloth, cleans great and leaves no residue of any kind. When you clean the wheels be very careful, alcohol can easily damage the paint. Also it is extremely flammable so use it in a well ventilated area to avoid vapor buildup and it will dry out your hands if you don't wear some sort gloves.
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Use Isopropyl alcohol, not denatured alcohol as Gunrunnerjohn suggested. Contrary to what most people think, your denatured alcohols do have a small percentage of petroleum in them. Isopropyl does not have any. Use a cloth, such as old towel and wipe the track clean, and I would probably use Q-tips and dry rag with the alcohol and do each wheel set individually, although time consuming.
Good luck,
Teledoc (Jerry)
Naptha is a superior cleaner / degreaser / solvent and will not harm paint at all. Use rags on the track, and Q-tips on the wheels and you should be fine. Do not over-oil; only a couple of drops is needed on each wheel.
Larry
I flop the locomotive on it's back and run it in a cradle to clean the wheels, makes the process much faster.
For rolling stock, I just use the alcohol on the rag and manually turn the wheel as I clean.
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