Do you burnish your track?

[gdelmoro]

I've been reading about how to burnish NS Track. Does it really help? Is it worth doing?

[davidmurray]

I burnished my layout a few years ago, and it SEEMS to help.

Having done the whole thing, and relying only on memory, this is not proof.

I feel that I am now cleaning loco wheels, and rolling stock wheels less frequently, and only doing light cleaning on track.

This seems to be a case where feelings are king, and facts are probably few.

Dave

 

[floridaflyer]

Gleamed my track when installing it in 2007, ran "Allen sliders" on most consists to pick up oxidation residue, filed off black streaks periodically.  Trains ran fine, but in late 2016 noticed some loss of power at random points on my DCC layout. Just finished regleaming the track, little more difficult with scenery and tunnels. Used 600 grit paper to scrub the rails before burnishing. Hope to get same results as last time. For me it was/is worth the effort, others may have a different view.. 

[PennCentral99]

Here are some threads for your reading pleasure. These go back quite a few years....

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/212742.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/165465.aspx?page=1

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/194051.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/244795.aspx?page=1

[peahrens]

I "gleamed" my track on installation about 5 yrs ago, run John Allen masonite pad cars routinely, CMX solvent car every few months, and clean loco wheels occasionally by spinning wheels over alcohol wetted paper towel on the track.  All this works well for me on my HO DCC layout.

[gdelmoro]

Thought I replied but I guess not....  

I'm thinking this is something I want to do.  Can you tell me once you start, can you run trains, continue, run etc until you're done or once you start you need to finish?

Also does it matter which metal polish you use?

[tomikawaTT]

gdelmoro

Thought I replied but I guess not....  

I'm thinking this is something I want to do.  Can you tell me once you start, can you run trains, continue, run etc until you're done or once you start you need to finish?

When you fiish burnishing a section (the last step after polishing) you can operate over it, even though the connecting sections have not been gleemed.  At the worst you might need to use a bit of your preferred solvent on a bit of rag or paper towel to clean up transferred rail/wheel crud after you're finished.

Also does it matter which metal polish you use?

I used Mother's Mag Wheel Polish (from WM) and it seemed to work as well as Flitz.  Haven't tried Brasso yet.  It should work, since nickel silver is similar to brass in composition.

In my experience, once Gleemed, always Gleemed unless something scratches up the polished, burnished railhead.  Routine rail cleaning is handled by my John Allen cars.  Emergency spot cleaning happens irregularly in response to some special problem.  Routine 'Clean all the rail' events are now a distant memory.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - o9n Gleemed track)

[floridaflyer]

Gleamed my rails upon installation in 07, Use the Allen sliders. Agree with Chuck that once is enough, but as I was experiencing some intermediate stops at random locations last fall, I decided to "regleam" the rails. Know I really didn't have to go through the whole process but decided to do a complete rework as a project along with refreshing the scenery. Was a little tricky in the tunnels,  but on the whole it came out well. hopefully I'm good for another 9 years.  

[gdelmoro]

One more question, once I finish and I use a solvent to clean does that remove the polish? Do I need to re-polish?

[tomikawaTT]

gdelmoro

One more question, once I finish and I use a solvent to clean does that remove the polish? Do I need to re-polish?

If you do a proper cleanup before burnishing, the polish should be gone.  It's not like auto wax.  You really don't want any to be left on the rails.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Enzoamps]

After a 50 year professional career in electronics, we use the DeOxit product line from Caig Labs in places where electrical contact matters. (switch contacts, potentiometers, connector pins, card edge connectors)  Has anyone tried these products or indeed already use them on track?  It has a super light lube quality, but the film it leaves is minimal and doesn;t attract dirt.  It does make magic in cleaning poor electrical contact. Comes in sprays, liquid, wipes, other forms.

http://caig.com/

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

[gdelmoro]

I purchased the DeOxit from Amazon Much better price and if you have Prime shipping is free.  Thanks for the tip.

[gdelmoro]

every time I think I know how to do it I find there's yet another question. 

Do you ballast before or after you do the tracks?

[tomikawaTT]

gdelmoro

every time I think I know how to do it I find there's yet another question. 

Do you ballast before or after you do the tracks?

Before, if new construction.  After, if you are Gleeming existing trackwork for the first time.

If you Gleem 'raw' track, you might have to touch up after ballasting and weathering, depending on whether or not things splatter.

So far, all of mine has been raw rail on this layout - even though a lot of the track in the Netherworld is several times relaid flex, some of which has survived five previous layouts.  No ballast in the Netherworld, where the sun (and the room light) never shines.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - and the rest of Japan in the Netherworld)

[Mark R.]

tomikawaTT

When you finish burnishing a section (the last step after polishing) you can operate over it, even though the connecting sections have not been gleemed.

You have that backwards ....

The burnishing process is done first, preceeding by fine sanding if the rails are old and pitted. The polishing is the last step as it is a final cleaning / protectant. Not all polishes are created equal either. Be sure your product not only cleans and polishes, but PROTECTS as well.

Mark.