Restoring shine to Lionel postwar trains

[Anonymous]

Many train dealers post online photos of postwar Lionel rolling stock they have for sale. Often, the cars and engines are extremely shiny, despite the fact that many are more than a half century old.

Anyone know a safe way to restore that "new car" shine to old Lionel rolling stock, without damaging the paint or decals?

[ben10ben]

If the car has no decals or printed graphics, the body can be washed in soap and lukewarm water with a soft toothbrush. If you remove the trucks from the frame, it can also be quickly dunked, scrubbed and dried before it has time to rust.

After washing, spray pledge on the car, and buff to a high shine with a soft cloth. You'll be suprised at the results.

On stubborn pieces, I have sometimes used a drop or two of 3-in-1 oil spread around and wiped off with a paper towel, although I wouldn't use this method on a valuable or otherwise excellent condition piece.

[Frank53]

personally, I like leaving them dirty. When you have a layout reflective of a "period", the locos and rolling stock should look equally hard working, in my opinion.

[rtraincollector]

I was taught by a collector named sims Diekle (he had done a few shows for pbs in FL any way he used singer sewing machine oil for cleaning and lubing all his trains and it left a shine even after you rubbed most off with a cloth.

[pbjwilson]

I'm with Ben. A good washing with mild soap and a soft cloth followed by some spray polish works wonders. I have purchased many tinplate trains whose condition looked rough but cleaned and polished up very nicely.

[brianel027]

I'll add though you do need to be careful with cars that are rubber stamped with a water based ink. Most Lionel car bodies (without fragile decals on them) will stand up to a quick wash with a mild dish soap, but some won't. Ben's suggestion of the Lemon Pledge has worked well for me in the past. Some other suggestions:

-Don't scrub the lettering on the car real hard. Some suggest using a soft toothbur***o get into crevaces and details, which is fine. Just be cautious with the lettering.
-Don't use hot water. Keep it room temperature, on the cooler side.
-When doing things with metal components, use a blow dryer to dry them quickly and prevent rust (or more rust) from setting in.