Age is only a state of mind, keep the mind active and enjoy life
I'm wondering why you feel it necessary to clean the track so often? Shiny track in the garden is impossible, but just because it's dull does not mean it won't conduct current. The environment I live in is not too much different from England (only warmer!) and I clean my brass Aristo track once or twice a year. Unless you are having conductivity issues or running DCC, I don't think such frequent cleaning is necessary.
Try using a little WD-40 (or equivalent light machine oil) on the rails after you clean them, that will inhibit the corrosion and make it easier to clean the rails the next time.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Ah, the principal ingredient in WD-40 is fish oil! WD is for water displacement.
The year before I started my real layout I had a small oval in the front foundation planting bed and ran an o4o on it. I had to clean it nightly or it wouldn't run; that's why I went SS on the biggie!
I would not use WD-40 as it is not plastic compatible. I have heard of it eating plastic ties after repeated use on switches. I use CRC2-26 to clean off the pad of my Aristo track cleaning car pulled by an Aristo 0-4-0. Once its running great I know everything else will too. The CRC2-26 will do everything the WD40 without eating the plastic and its great for wheel cleaning. It will also reduce oxide formation on stainless track.
-Brian
I have found that the LGB locomotives with the pick up shoes, are geat track cleaners by them selves, I live in a sub-tropical part of Australia, in Queensland, I find if I run at least once a week, no actual track cleaning is required, on my LGB, Aristocraft and Local Code 332 Brass track. First train of the day is an LGB (with Shoes) pulling my Aristocraft track cleaning car around a couple of times, no problems with conductivity all day.
If I do not run for a while, then I must use my dry wall sander on a pole and walk the track!
Regards, Danny Sheehan in Oz.
I clean my track before each use with a drywall sanding pole that has the fine nylon mesh screen. Very little effort is needed and the track surface shines like gold in the sun. I also cut the nylon mesh and attached it to the Aristo track cleaning car pad and either push it or pull it around.
dan
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Tom Trigg
When I cleaned by hand I used a decorators sponge - don't know if you have them in other countries - and it worked great. I followed that with a wipe down with an old towel to remove any left over grit, had to do this only 3 or 4 times a year even though I run all year round. I have also used vinegar to wipe the track down, that does shift some muck but encourages oxidisation if you don't remove it all. I have now bought an LGB track cleaner and the decorators sponge stays in the paste bucket and the vinegar stays on the chips!
Cheers,
Kim
ttrigg wrote:Dave:I've also made my own track cleaning car. I took a standard Bachman box car, drilled two holes into the bottom and attached some thin copper tubing up into the car with some serious use of liquid nails. Sliced out a piece of 1/2 inch plywood slightly larger than my sanding pole head, put in a pair of 3 inch long 1/4 inch bolts to line up with the holes under the box car. A short piece of aluminum channel (bathroom mirror molding) attached to each end of the plywood allows me to use stationary "alligator paper clips" to hold the sanding cloth in place. Sorry I do not have a picture, but it is just a larger version of what I used to use in N scale. Check the "small scale" forums and I'm sure you can find many other examples that can be easily up sized to the garden. This way I can clean as I run, or not, as I choose.
Thanks for how to build a track cleaning car info.
dwbeckett wrote:Nice trick with adding drywall sanding materal to the Aristo track cleaner and useing and LGB 0-4-0. I have both and did'nt think of that combination. How do you attach the nylon to the sanding block
I had a spare nylon mesh screen for drywall sanding joint compound, I just cut it down a little and folded it over and around the Aristo Block and screwed it back on. It will last forever, easy to clean with an air compressure. It work's great especially if you have a large layout.
Works better than anything else I tried.
The dry wall sanding poll is the best advise. you can use it at any angle and if you thing you need to do a little bit of more cleaning. You just go back and forth a couple of time.
You can also go inside things like tunnels and bridges.
Also keep you old socks. Put one in a can or jar of WD40. Ring out the sock. slip it over the pad. Lightly wipe all your rails.
Long and/ or steep grades will need to be wiped clean.
unless you soak your ties in WD40 it will not affect them.
NEVER use GOO GONE is the metal can, Use GOOF OFF in the plastic bottle. GOO GONE is in a metal can because it eats Plastic faster that that Japanees speed eater..
spikejones52002 wrote:unless you soak your ties in WD40 it will not affect them.
The tie deterioration I spoke of was reported by Ron Wenger, long time AristoCraft guru and event coordinator for the first 8 or 9 ECLSTS. Of course, different plastic formulations will react differently with different reagents. If you do not believe this word of caution, I guess you can ask Ron about it.
Someone told me that electrical-conductive oils are available that you can put on the track and wheels. I don't know if it is feaasible for outdoors. Aristo makes one.
I switched to batteries last year. No more track cleaning for me!
Tom The Brat wrote:I think you need a battery powered loco to run the track cleaning car. But then, once you have batteries in one loco, you'll put batteries in all of them and won't care about track cleaning
My railway has been running just about a year now. I stole the wifes swiffer sweeper and glued a scotch brite pad for an initial cleaning. One time around. Then run a brite blok on a Bachman passenger car a few laps and we're good to go.
Jon
Obisidian Scenic Railway
I noticed that my Ariso 20 ft gondolas had the same wheelbase / frame as my aristo track cleaning car - and I mean exact!
I cut a block of wood the same size as the track cleaning pad and attached drywall sanding screen "120 grit - fine" to the block. I used a regular stapler to attach the screen to the pine block. Then I slung the block beneath the gondola: same way the aristo track cleaing car works. Four screws keep it in line and flexible to move up and down, but not front to back. I did not add any extra weight to the cleaning block.
Total expense: 4 screws, a block of pine, 1/4 sheet of drywall screen, 3 squirts of black paint, 8 staples. I figure about 4 cents.
At the beginning of a session I run the pole sander around the track: If my eggliner still runs herky-jerky, I hook the gondola car to it and run it around 'till it runs smoothly - or perhaps just run it continuously.
Alan in PA
Greetings Alan in PA from Alan in UK,
In order to gain an extra caboose I removed the Aristo track cleaning pad from the t/c car and fixed it beneath an Aristo 20ft. box car.
As you have noticed the underframes of the t/c car and 20ft. stock are the same size. The only other helpful thing you could do, if you haven't done so already, is change the plastic wheels for metal ones. Many, myself included, will tell you that plastic wheels cause track to get soiled quickly.
Alan, Oliver & North Fork Railroad
https://www.buckfast.org.uk/
If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 - 1898)
Great Western wrote: Many, myself included, will tell you that plastic wheels cause track to get soiled quickly.
LGB states that there fluid is smoke and cleaning fluid.
I attended their maintenance class and was told to use the smoke fluid on a rag to clean/brighten their cars.
Also LGB suggested putting the smoke fluid on the track cleaning pads of their cleaning loco and cleaning pad adapter for cars.
Hello Alan in England. I have family back there in Lancashire. Parents from Wigan. Aunt and uncle in near Blackpool.
Anyway. I have changed all my wheels to Bachmann. Bit of a tight fit beneath the gondola car. Had to relieve the journals to get the wheels to spin freely. Did a half a job, and then ran the car around and around. The wheels have worn the journals away nicely and the wheels spin fairly freely
Greetings Alan in PA,
There is a UK Forum called GScaleMad. There are quite a few regulars on that Forum who live in the part of England where your rels came from and some still are. I am in the South some 400 miles from there. The Pilgrim Fathers sailed from this part of the country; it was their last port of call before braving the Atlantic and Terra incognito
The covered gondolas (Aristo) have new USAT metal wheels and the 20ft Aristo stock now has the roller bearing silver wheels from SanVal. What a difference in weight however. The cars ride better, but there has to be less of them it seems. The metal wheels on the 20ft stock did seem to jolt more than the plastic ones on the switch frogs. I have therefore filed the plastic frog and the passage of the wheels is much smoother. Some folk use a Dremel - I have two left hands and thought the files, whilst slower, were more accurate for me.
Glad to know that the journals become eased; I hope one or two of mine will.
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