LGB Track Clip Cleaning

[Anonymous]

Hi please bear with me I am new to your forum.

I have been busy buying LGB stuff to build a garden railway. Most if not all of the track is second user and is tarnished.

Before I join the track perminantly I would like to clean the track joints before applying the paste and joining them. Is there a product I can use that will quickly clean the ends prior to joining. I was thinking along the lines of some form of chemical 'dip'.

Many thanks in advance for your replies.

[John Busby]

Hi frog-11
When I am adding pre loved track to my line I dip the joint in Methelated Spirits
(not sure of the US name for this) and give it a bit of a going over with an old tooth brush.
then I dip it in graphite grease and join it together wiping the exess off with a lint free rag
it seems to work have not had any problems yet
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi John,
Didn't come back straight away because I was waiing for some more replies as I had assumed this would be an old problem that loads of people would have experienced.

So thanks for your reply, some of the track is very dirty ie almost black as it had been ripped up and left in the garden for several months. I was rather thinking along the lines of some sort of corrosive liquid. We have Hydroclorice acid for cleaning showers over here (takes the lime scale of the glass), it's not very strong and I have tried dipping the ends in yesterday and it cleans quite well. I washed it for a few minutes under the tap and it seems OK this morning. I am a little concerned that this might be a bit drastic although it works well but I wondered if it has any long term effects that I am not aware off. Any thoughts, is there an alternative?

[John Busby]

Hi frog-11
Dont use anything corrosive like that or you will be replacing the track
It will leave a little residue no matter what you do to get it out.
mwthalated spirit and a quick going over with a tooth brush is enough.
some of my pre loved track matched your description of your track.
and it is working fine
To clean the track for the first run I used meths and a scotch bright pad
this is a corse nylon pad normaly used for cleaning pots and pans in the kitchen.
You will find once you have trains running well provided the line is run regularly and all wagons have metal wheels that track cleaning is not as big an issuie as it might be.
inspite of the track going that nice brown black colour.
I like the brown black colour as it blends better in to the garden and looks less like 1000Kg rail as long as the running edge is clean the trains will run.
regards John

[tangerine-jack]

Hi Frog-11! [#welcome]

John knows what he is talking about. Meth works just fine and evaporates without residue. Any acid will, as John said, leave a residue that will come back to haunt you later. You might want to try some vinegar and water solution, it does well for track that is not so badly corroded, and when used with a scotch-bright pad, leave the rails shiny and clean.

I have found that unless the rails are actualy growing green globs of corrosion, electrical continuity is not affected much by the browning effect of "experienced" track. A quick rub with steel wool is enough to ensure good electrical contact.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[oX)]

[Anonymous]

frog-11[#welcome]
i have been using scotch brite pads and A product called goo gone , i get it at a auto parts store , K-MART, it cleans my brass track with no problem. BEN