Rusty Lionel Track

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any tips on how to clean up (get rid of rust) on old-style Lionel O-27 Gauge track? I recently discovered a box full of my past Lionel track, and its all pretty beat up. My current stuff that I have been using is fine, but this stuff I just found is really pretty rusty.

[gottcent]

Just cleaned some up yesterday. Used an abrasive track cleaner to rub off much of the rust. What that didn't handle, I sprayed lightly with WD-40. Let the fluid sit on the rust spots for 30 seconds or so, and then most of it wiped right off. After all that, I went over the rails with an alcohol soaked rag to remove any oil deposits left by the WD-40. But there's so little oil in that compound that I don't think it would cause much trouble anyway.

                                                                         John Gottcent

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip, much appreciated,

[Anonymous]

NYCLionel,

                Whatever you do, DO NOT use steel wool.  It can cause a lot of damage.  If the track is very rusty, the best thing to do would be to throw it out and buy new track. 

[trainbrain]

Read the How to/ Newbie post at the top of this page.

[Demon09]

I just did this last week..... I won some really old track on ebay and it was more beaten up than I thought....

I soaked it in vinegar over night and scrubbed it with a stiff plastic brush and a plastic abrasive pad.  For tracks that were considerably rusty, I used sandpaper on the top of the rails.  You don't need to take it down very far, just enough to remove the rust on top.  This, however, might leave enough behind that it will re-rust... I have yet to see, as it has only been a week.

The other thing to make sure of with old track is that the insulating pads on the bottoms of the center rails are still there.  You can check this with a multi-meter or incandescent light bulb.

In a discussion on the same topic a few weeks ago, there was one forum member who said he had used a small sand blaster with very good results.... So if you have access to one somehow, and don't want to spend a lot of time and energy on scrubbing and soaking, that is another option.

[c50truck]

Been there, done that.

I've tried all types of ways to clean old tubular. I finally asked myself, why? I wish to run trains, and I like tubular, but why am I spending time trying to resurrect old track. Ordered all new tubular track, have not looked back. Have a large box of rusty, old tubular I'll take to a swap meet, and find someone to give me 20 bucks for it.

Rod LaFrance