cleaning track

[Don Gibson]

HAVING USED BOTH brass & nickel-silver track, the difference is not that great. It's like having a dog in a fenced-in yard, if you want to walk in it, you have to do some cleaning - regardless of the kind, or breed of dog.

Track get's carbon from arcing. Also it collects dust - more with an oil. Brass will tarnish with non-use where N.S. wont (period). Metal wheels tend to keep brass rails polished from use, and  cause short spikes when traversing reversing loops.  

Nickel-Silver is in vogue, It looks slightly better, and is  low enough in price that people buy it hoping their track cleaning chore will go away. It still requires cleaning. Bummer.

Dust particles are in the air. Is there a room in your house that doesn't require periodic dusting? 'Nuff said.

[RRTrainman]

Hopefully you switch nickel silver track in the future but brass will need cleaning more often, I have used it and my 4X8 has it, even though I have replaced half of it with nickel silver. Brass the tarnish on it causes a short in the electrcial flow so you are going to have to clean your track more often. 

[Anonymous]

I haven't had to clean my NS rail in years !

I have to clean it almost every time I run trains... that and the locomotive wheels. No idea why my track gets dirty so fast...

I use brass track for abandoned sidings (there's a whole lot of 'em in modern day New England) as well as a fence near the staging yard to keep trains off the floor. I also use brass rail for old/new rail near the tracks.

[saronaterry]

You guys who haven't had to clean your nickel silver track (for those of you who thought NS meant you could only run Norfolk Southern trains on it) in a long time obviously aren't familiar with the joys of N scale.  If I don't run my layout for a week I have to clean it.  I used brass years ago but didn't even think anyone made it anymore.

I,too still have brass track in areas,including some #6 turnouts I couldn't see tossin'.

One word for track cleaning:

GLEAM.

Terry

[trainfan1221]

You guys who haven't had to clean your nickel silver track (for those of you who thought NS meant you could only run Norfolk Southern trains on it) in a long time obviously aren't familiar with the joys of N scale.  If I don't run my layout for a week I have to clean it.  I used brass years ago but didn't even think anyone made it anymore.

[Geared Steam]

I'm surprised that some here have recommended using brass track.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Yes. there is nothing wrong with brass track, a lot of hype @ N/S as the ONLY thing to use, sure, you clean brass track, try to NOT cleaning N/S and see the results, the problem now is finding good used brass, everyone throws it out. keep up the good work.

I haven't had to clean my NS rail in years ! 

Mark.

You either, eh?

[Mark R.]

Yes. there is nothing wrong with brass track, a lot of hype @ N/S as the ONLY thing to use, sure, you clean brass track, try to NOT cleaning N/S and see the results, the problem now is finding good used brass, everyone throws it out. keep up the good work.

I haven't had to clean my NS rail in years ! 

Mark.

[loathar]

TarnX works great on brass, but like your degreaser, it should be rinsed off afterwards.

[tatans]

Yes. there is nothing wrong with brass track, a lot of hype @ N/S as the ONLY thing to use, sure, you clean brass track, try to NOT cleaning N/S and see the results, the problem now is finding good used brass, everyone throws it out. keep up the good work.

[Hobojim]

Hi all yes i did wash the track  with soap and water after i degreased it

so far it does not apear to have hurt the ties right at this time i dont have much i can do to get better track so have to make do for now..

i dont think i have said before i have very low vision 

like my right eye is 20/200 my left eye can see a moving hand .. so doing modleing now comes very hard for me.. sure doctors could fix both eyes but 1 millon buck and eye i dont have hehehehheheheheh

[tomikawaTT]

There's nothing wrong with using brass rail.  In fact, it's the perfect shade for railheads that are usually shiny but have a slight sheen of rust produced by the dew that fell since the last train ran.

My concern is more with the degreaser.  Did you wash the track thoroughly after you de-greased it?  The degreasers I am familiar with have some nasty compounds that are totally incompatible with most plastics.  They also don't help the solder we use when assembling and powering track, nor are they good to have around most of the things we use for scenery.  Fortunately, a quick scrub with dish detergent and several thorough clear water rinses should eliminate the problem.

Brass requires more frequent cleaning than nickel silver, but is otherwise compatible with the best of model railroading practice.

So, do I use brass?  Yes - on the far ends of sidings and the bumper ends of back-in staging tracks.  That was all I had before I ran out.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Mark R.]

.... (biting tongue) ....

Mark. 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It's good that it worked. I hope that the degreaser didn't attack the ties.

[AltoonaRailroader]

Hello all,

i started useing some old brass track it was pretty bad  shape lots of dirt and whatever on it..lol

anyway i  used cheap engine degreaser the foaming stuff from a can made that brass like new.. so i guess i will start to get my new layout going...

 

]

I'm glad that worked for you hobojim, but man, I hope you have your thick skin on today because you'll more than likely get flamed by someone about the brass track. Me personally, I don't care, I say, use what you can get your hands on. Now get that track laid and tell us how your clean up job works.

[Hobojim]

Hello all,

i started useing some old brass track it was pretty bad  shape lots of dirt and whatever on it..lol

anyway i  used cheap engine degreaser the foaming stuff from a can made that brass like new.. so i guess i will start to get my new layout going...