Because of the shape of the head of the rail, I have a very easy time applying Chapstick to the top and inside edge. It just takes a light touch and a very slight tilt to the tube.
I've also done some hand painting of the sides of the rail. That can be a bit tedious and slow, but depending on how stressful the rest of the day has been, at times it quite theraputic as well.
I'm not at all worried about using an abrasive pad like a brite boy. Since nickel silver oxide conducts electricity, tiny abrasions to the railhead that might encourage oxidation are a complete non-issue. In fact, those tiny abrasions that roughen the surface of the rail may (I said may) improve traction by a tiny amount.
Anyway, whatever method works best.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
hbgatsf The paint came of most of the inside of the rail. I need to play around with this some more. I will probably go back to painting and wiping off quickly.
Wiping too much paint off of the inside of the rail was the problem I had when doing the painting/quick wiping method.
Just want to get paint off of that little corner of the rail where the wheel flanges might touch, but I would always take paint off of the sides of the rail. Having the sides of rail painted was sort of the whole point to me.
Then I switched to brush painting with a chisel edged brush just along the sides of the rails. That works great.
I'm sure the chapstick method might take some practice to perfect.
I would think, however, that the sharp edge of that inside corner would make it easier to remove dried paint with something like an old credit card. Maybe not.
- Douglas
I decided to test the chapstick idea on an old piece of sectional track.
The first pass I made went on heavy so when I moved to the other rail I was more careful and got a light coat on. I then used a rattle can to paint it.
Both worked well as I was easily able to wipe the paint off after 15 minutes, 2 hours, and then 2 days. I did find a potential problem. The inside of rail did have paint which was difficult to remove.
I then moved to the other end of the track and made sure I was holding the chapstick on an angle so that inside edge of the rail was coated. After painting and letting it dry for a few hours the paint wiped off easily. Maybe too easy. The paint came of most of the inside of the rail.
I need to play around with this some more. I will probably go back to painting and wiping off quickly.
Rick
Chapstick? Cherry or Spearmint?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Count me in for rubbing alochol on a paper towel.
What type of paint did you get on the rails and is it everywhere?
Good point Mark. I had that issue near switches most often where there was a loss of conductivity due to paint on the side of the rail.
-----------
Going back to my earlier post. Still I advise great caution applying anything abrasive or hard to remove paint. Treat the rails like the body finish on your car. Would you use anything metallic or fine grit on your car? Probably not. Any microscopic scrapes or metallic deposition will result in oxidation. You'll be cleaning rails more often, which in turn will result in more abrasion. I just see no need other than using a credit card to remove dried paint.
I can't think of this process ever being an issue. I'm still very much a novice to track painting and installs, but a flat brown coat of spraypaint with a block and towel sweeped across resulted in a perfectly clean top rail with a nice even coat of paint on the sides. No hassle, no major set up. No mess. Later came back and just lightly brushed some railroad tie brown acrylic down the center of the ties for some nice weather gradient.
Something equally important that I haven't seen mentioned .... be sure to clean the inside edge of the rail as well, not just the top.
I was having some intermittent contact trouble after painting / cleaning track (especially on curves). I went back and cleaned the paint off the inside edge of the rail head and the problem went away.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
hbgatsfWhen using the chapstick method is it as necessary to be quick in wiping the paint off the rail, or can you do a little bit bigger lenght of track and then go back and wipe it? Rick
I actually forgot once and waited over two days to wipe the rails, and the Chapstick / paint still came off pretty easy (not quite as easy as after just 12 hours, but it was still not a problem).
When using the chapstick method is it as necessary to be quick in wiping the paint off the rail, or can you do a little bit bigger lenght of track and then go back and wipe it?
hbgatsf Thanks for the tips. When using either light oil or chap stick to coat the rails before painting are there any cleanup issues getting that off?
Thanks for the tips.
When using either light oil or chap stick to coat the rails before painting are there any cleanup issues getting that off?
I only tried the Chapstick thing a couple times now, but in my limited experience cleanup is easy - wipe it off with a paper towel. Just be careful when applying io use a light touch, so it only goes on the head of the rail.
I'll be using Chapstick all the time when painting rail. It's easier than anything else I've tried.
riogrande5761Rob Spangler reported he dragged a utility knife blade across the rails after the paint dried. I tried it and it work very well. No prepwork either.
Yes, and it definitely works. I got the idea from MR author Pelle Soeborg. By dragging the blade backwards the cutting edge won't dig into the rail, so no damage.
Rob Spangler
To make it really easy to remove the paint even after it's fully dry, run a Chapstick along the top of the rails before painting. It's quick, and wiping with a paper towel will easily remove both the Chapstick and the paint at any time afterwards.
Rob Spangler reported he dragged a utility knife blade across the rails after the paint dried. I tried it and it work very well. No prepwork either.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
The key is prep work.
As I recall my teenage years working a 40 hour per week summer job for the city street department, I was assigned to the paint crew.
We painted the "Only"s and arrows (R,L, Combo) using aluminum metal stencils. The sticky paint used for durable asphalt stripes stuck to the stencils like glue.
We prepped the stencils using thick grease, applied liberally. At 3pm quitting time (it gets too hot in the afternoon for painting, dries too fast), we headed back to the barn and scraped the dried paint off with a big putty knife....came off in big chunks....thank you grease . (and then we clean the stencil with gasoline (toxic and environmentally unfriendly...who thought of that)) and slathered the grease on for the next morning at 7am.
I realize that I just made a short story longer.
Mark P aka Pruitt applied Chap Stick to the top of the rails before spray painting. Same principal.
Scrape off the dried paint with a used credit card. Stiff enough to do the job but won't gouge the rails.
I usually brush paint the rails. Not a problem. But I'll experiment with Pruitt's method on some scrap track to see how it works.
I brush-paint my tracks' rails (and sometimes the ties, too) using Pollyscale paint and a 1/2" brush. I find it to be a very relaxing pastime, and, along with track ballasting, one of the best "bangs for your buck" that you'll find in model railroading. Very little clean-up is needed, and no masking is required.I find that a dry rag over my fingertips is all that's needed for removing excess paint from the top of the rails. If I don't clean the rail tops before the paint cures, I use a mildly-abrasive block, meant for polishing electrical contact points, to remove hardened paint.
While my layout is an around-the-room type, I also paint the normally unseen sides of the rails, too, as taking camera-on-the-layout photos with the camera pointing towards the aisles, would yield some unfinished-looking views.
In the photo below...
...the partial upper level of the layout, at the far end of the room, is about 38" deep. While I could reach that far when standing on a stepstool, it wasn't possible to see the backside of the rails. My only option was to use a step ladder to climb onto the the layout, then paint the unseen sides of the rails while lying down atop the layout (even though I'm pretty sure that I won't be placing the camera on that side of the track).
Wayne
Two steps:
a. Spray away; and
b. use fingernail, small bit of stripwood, painter's cloth remnant wrapped around forefinger, or a scotchbrite type pad to scrub the bearing surfaces. BUTTTT........do it right away. Don't let the paint dry, especially if it's oil based.
Before painting track/rail, I dip a Q-tip or similar swab in a light oil and run it lightly on the top surface of the rail. After painting I wrap a cloth soaked in isopropyl alcohol (but not dripping wet with it) around a small piece of wood that has a flat surface and wipe along the top of the rail. Like you I try to do this ASAP after the painting. Very little paint, with luck none at all, adheres to the slightly oily top surface of the rail and the alcohol rub removes remaining paint and any oil so traction is not decreased.
Dave Nelson
I also spraypaint my tracks.
I do this outside and roll painters tape on the back of the track to hold them down to a piece of plywood or cardboard
paint the track
Then I wrap paper towels around a block of wood. I slide the block of wood + towel across the top of the track and repeat. The block ensures the towel won't wrap the sides of the track. You only want the top of the rails cleaned
Never scrape any missed / dried excess with anything other than smooth plastic. Anything metallic may deposit and oxidize. Anything coarse maybe leave pits in the surface impacting conductivity.
The ultimate method if doing curving sections of flex track is to paint them already fastened This is because the tie fasteners will shift after painting when the tracks are shaped
I spray and wipe with a dry cloth wrapped around a finger, gets most of it and a bright boy takes care of any residue.
A Bright Boy will work, but a lot of people don't like how abrasive they are.
My Build Thread: https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/185298.aspx
Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephenkingsmaine
I recently spray painted a fairly large section of track. The method I used was to paint a 3' section at a time and then use a cloth dipped in paint thinner to wipe the top of the rail. While this worked I am not convinced that it is the most efficient way to do this. I had done a test on some old sectional track and found it was really hard to get off after it had dried, so the method I used worked better than that.
Any tips on the best way to remove paint from the tops of the rails?