The cheapest Dremel tool you can get and the wire brush attachment will allow you to clean wheels a lot easier. Make sure to use safety glasses. I remember cleaning up that first Marx set I got off e-bay. My wife asked if I was playing with toy trains or working on real trains when I came upstairs and started washing my hands at the sink!
Jim
An easier method to clean caked on dirt is to use a small flat tip screwdriver and rotate the wheel until you clean the heavy dirt off then use a pencil eraser(pen eraser is too ruff) to clean the wheels. The wheels need to have a flat metal look to them when finished cleaning. A rag will clean the track but not wheels on post war trains.
Lee F.
OK, it took me a while to get back to you but here's the deal:
When I first pulled these pieces out of storage I lubed them and "cleaned" them up a bit with a rag. After reading your comments I pulled them downstairs in some good light and took out the alcohol. Every time I touched the wheel with a Q-tip it came away black and I realized everything was a LOT dirtier than it appeared. The "ridges" I saw on the wheels were not casting defects on cheap rolling stock, but rock hard filth built up on the wheels. I started getting out a metal scrapper and litterally had to scrape the entire surface of every wheel. I then scrubbed it with a green scrub pad. My fingers were black by the time I was through and I had a nice pile of......I don't know what! Anyway, I only made it through two cars in two hours and my fingers were sore, BUT IT WORKED!!
When my fingers recoup, I will work on the rest of the rolling stock and I'll be ready to go...now to go detail and weather that plasticville church...
I don't think the plastic side frames are the problem -- the frame itself of the truck is metal, as I remember. (I have a Scout car someplace, but it's packed away.) And in any case, later postwar trucks which are made completely of plastic (with metal wheels and axles) activate accessories OK using the insulated rail -- the electrical path is through the wheels and the axle.
Expanding on Paul's comments ... First, check the wheel treads to be sure they're clean. If they are, then a good bet is that there's dirt, dried grease, etc., between the wheel and the axle (where the wheel rotates), and it's acting as an insulator. I use ordinary rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip [brand cotton swab] to flood the joint. (Don't get it on the paint or lettering of the car!) Mineral spirits would probably work even better. (DON'T GET IT on the paint or lettering of the car!!!) After the alcohol dries, put a drop of oil at each point where the wheels rotate on the axle, and make sure the wheels spin freely -- if not, try another drop of oil, and if that doesn't solve the problem, repeat the alcohol treatment.
Check and clean the wheels and axles. Any build up of gunk can reduce the current flow.
One thing that may be different is the shape of the wheels, conical versus almost cylindrical. That would vary the point of contact with the rail. However, on the other topic, you stressed that you centered the foil on top of the rail, which would seem to favor the older wheels, not the newer ones.
I have never noticed any problem with old wheels and control rails; but I haven't used foil either.
Bob Nelson
OK, if you checked out my "I blew it" thread recently you will know that I am working with insulated rails to trigger signals and such. I have been successful when I have remembered to insulate the rail BEFORE permanently laying it to the track (this was what my thread was about). Now in playing with an insulated rail today I discovered something I had never noticed in my (limited) experience.
I was testing an insulated rail that I fabricated today and found the test results inconsistant. Eventually, I discovered that some of my rolling stock did not conduct the outside rail current to the insulated rail. The rolling stock that was inconsistant and often failed entirely was my one postwar consist. The consist came from an old "Scout" set (I believe) that was my father's as a child (or maybe his little brother's). This rolling stock has plastic trucks with metal wheels and axles, but the wheels move independantly of the axle. They can all roll together, but each opposing wheel can also rotate in opposite directions. I assume this configuration leads to weak electrical connectivity across the axle.
Has anyone else run into this? It kinda frustrates me that these pieces wont trigger my insolated rail. I may end up going infrared, or just not running these pieces of stock. What do you do?
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