CRC 2-26 Track Cleaner

[Ian R.]

I'm about to use CRC 2-26 for the first time to clean my tracks.  It's in a spray can.  Will it harm the plastic ties, ballast and adjoining grass, etc. landscaping if I spray it on? Or should I use a cloth saturated with it to wipe the rails by hand?

Thanks!

[hgodling]

I believe the CRC 2-26 has oil in it. For cleanliness, it may be better to spray on a rag. Otherwise you will end up with oily residue on your ties. (There is another CRC cleaner that does not.)

[gmpullman]

I was fortunate enough to find a bottle of 2-26 with a pump sprayer so I can unscrew the sprayer and decant the amount I need which I usually put into a needle-point bottle.

Your best choice would probably be to carefully "decant" or spray the liquid into a secondary container, maybe place a paper towel over the container to trap any spillage, then use a cotton swab or scrap piece of lint-free rag to apply it to the rails.

Choice 2 would be to spray the CRC 2-26 into a lint free cloth directly and then apply this to the rails.

Spraying directly would seem to be too messy and wasteful. It would creep into the surrounding scenery and make even more of a mess.

Good Luck, Ed

[Overmod]

Ed's right (as usual).  Even volatile solutions are best wiped across the railhead -- along with saving the mass of product actually used, that confines contact to only the part of the rail needing 'attention' and not anything that won't benefit (or tolerate!) the chemicals involved, you get all the benefit of mechanical agitation; absorbance of any dissolved gunk or grease 'cleaned' off; more prompt drying; and leveling of any remaining 'film' left to "protect the surface", "enhance conductivity" or whatever.

[Ian R.]

Thanks, gentlemen.  As I suspected.  All good tips. 

Does CRC 2-26 come in a pour container?  If so, I could use it in my CMX track cleaning car. 

[BigDaddy]

Ian R.

Does CRC 2-26 come in a pour container? If so, I could use it in my CMX track cleaning car. Add Quote to your Post

There are 16 oz and 1 gal bottles on Amazon, but the oily content sounds like a disadvantage to me, in the track cleaning car.

[Overmod]

MSDS is here:

http://docs.crcindustries.com/msds/2004.pdf

Note the percentage of mineral oil, butyl stearate (a grease constituent) and 'petrolatum'.  These are fine ingredients to cling to surfaces and make them substantially hydrophobic, as in 'water displacing'  but I am less sanguine about their benefit as cleaners or contaminant solvents.

Apparently the propellant in the spray is substantially CO2 and not lighter hydrocarbon fractions, which may indicate the nature of the 'hydrotreated' hydrocarbons making up a majority of the formula.

[trwroute]

I saturate a piece of road bed cork.  I then just slide the cork on the rails and then wait a day for it to dry.

[gmpullman]

I was fortunate that at my former employer we had bags full of small squares of industrial wool felt. I brought home a couple dozen of various sizes once they were deemed surplus.

These are ideal for application of cleaning fluids for track maintenance. If I need to clean paint off the rail head I'll use some VM&P Naptha which takes it right off. I used to use 99% isopropyl and these pads would be ideal for applying that. Lately I've been using mineral spirits as was suggested on another MRR site. 

The closest thing I can think of for a source of this felt would be scavenged from an old fashioned school chalkboard eraser. This would be the same stuff.

I normally do not put CRC 2-26 on the rails but I DO use it in the axle points, especially on the Walthers trucks with zinc-alloy sideframes or with brass fabricated trucks. Enhances electrical pickup and improves rolling at the same time.

The rectangle in this photo is a piece of the felt pad:

Naptha_clean by Edmund, on Flickr

I also attached one to a wand and use it for hard-to-reach spots.

Regards, Ed

[Ian R.]

trwroute

I saturate a piece of road bed cork.  I then just slide the cork on the rails and then wait a day for it to dry.

 

 

A simple, creative way to do the job!

[mbinsewi]

gmpullman

I normally do not put CRC 2-26 on the rails but I DO use it in the axle points, especially on the Walthers trucks with zinc-alloy sideframes or with brass fabricated trucks. Enhances electrical pickup and improves rolling at the same time.

Same here.  Works good on the end of axle electrical pick-ups on Genesis and Kato, as well.  I've also used it on turnout "hinged" points.

I've usually use laquer thinner for cleaning rails, in a rail cleaning car.

Mike.

[PennCentral99]

I recently used the CRC 2-26 on my mainline. I sprayed it on a rag and ran the rag along the rails. I did notice an improvement in electrical contact and it seemed to keep the dirt and grime down.

My negative finding was the loss of traction (wheel slip) in the helix. The wheel slip was on a 2 unit (6 axles each) MU pulling 12 cars up a 3% grade. Once I removed the CRC from the rails in the helix, no more wheel slip. I have other minor elevation changes on the layout, they did not experience wheel slip.

Maybe I applied too much or didn't let it dry enough.

Terry