Gleam'n track

[Southwest Chief]

I've always been intrigued by the "Gleam" process that has been posted here.  I'm actually more interested in the shiny rail head than less track cleaning since I model the Santa Fe railroad and even thinking way back when it seems their mainline track always had a perfect mirror finish.

I searched through the many many posts on "Gleam", but there doesn't appear to be a simple step by step list of what to do and how to do it.  There are a few posts that give details on how to, but then the posts go into interesting and sometimes waste of space tangents.

I would very much appreciate just a list of what to do to get my railheads looking like a highly polished mainline.  Please try and refrain from the tangents that seem to appear in every Gleam post.

And better yet, if someone is familiar with the "Gleam" process and would like to send me instructions via email that would also work.  My email is:

[e-mail]

I have old Atlas code 100 track that has been in use since my Dad started the layout in 1973, so it's not as shiny as it used to be, although we do keep it clean as best we can.  At this point we've pretty much finished everything on the layout except detailing the track.  So I think it's about the time to finally paint "rust" the sides, ballast the cork, and polish the railheads.

Here's a photo showing the rail and why I'd like to upgrade it:

And one of my favorite photos on RailPictures that clearly shows the high polished look of the Santa Fe mainline can be seen in this link:

Yellowbonnet in Fullerton 

[Driline]

 You want short and sweet, here it is.

1) Find an old spoon and "rub" the rails real good until the surface is flat without any pits in the rails.

2) Buy a tube of metal polishing cream like MAAS.

3) Use a clean rag and smooth it on the rails.

4) Buff it dry. I use extra cork roadbed laying around. It works great.

5) Run trains

I also recommend using the $125 dollar CMX clean machine after you gleam the rails and run it once or twice a month. It does a great job of removing oil and grease from the track.

Don't forget to wet a rag with alchohol and run your engine wheels half on the track and half on the rag to clean them.

Gleaming doesn't solve everything, but it helps.

[Mark R.]

If your track is older, you're going to have to do some preliminary work first, otherwise, you'll be burnishing your butt off and getting no-where.

You first need to progressively sand the rails smooth. Start with 800 grit working your way up through 1000, 1200 and finally 1600. Just wrap a piece of paper around a small block of wood and do both rails at the same time.

After you have sanded the rails smooth, it's time to start burnishing. Get yourself one of those big stainless steel fender washers that are about 1-1/2" in diameter .... it MUST be stainless steel. I glue a small wood block to the washer as a handle. It requires a fair bit of pressure on the washer to achieve good results. You can not only see the results, you can FEEL the rail smooth out as you go.

I suggest the washer over the spoon idea as you want the burnishing surface to be flat on the railhead, a spoon isn't as easy to use to keep flat on the rail - the washer will span both rails at the same time.

Finally give the rail heads a polishing with a good metal polish (like Maas or Flitz), this will not only remove any last oxidation, it will also help to protect the metal from oxidizing as well.

The whole principal behind the burnishing method is to meld the rail surface smooth. By displacing small amounts of material to fill in and smooth out the last remaining micro-scopic pits and scratches.

Here's a before and after shot that I had posted before ....

Before

After

Mark.

 

[Loco]

That's simply outstanding looking track.  Do you have any tips/suggestions for doing turnouts?

[cudaken]

 Mark, I never have done the Gleam method of cleaning. I all so understand the 800 grit up to 1600 git you listed, but why the washer? I have been in Auto Body for 20 years, why not use up to 4000 grit paper? I have used 4000 grit when wet sanding and buffing paint it it makes it slicker than glass. Sat a can of adult refreshment on a trunk of a 68 Charger and it side off the trunk? That was before buffing I will add.

 Is the point to make the rails so slick that stuff will not stick to it?

                      Cuda Ken

[CSXDixieLine]

 Mark, I never have done the Gleam method of cleaning. I all so understand the 800 grit up to 1600 git you listed, but why the washer? I have been in Auto Body for 20 years, why not use up to 4000 grit paper? I have used 4000 grit when wet sanding and buffing paint it it makes it slicker than glass. Sat a can of adult refreshment on a trunk of a 68 Charger and it side off the trunk? That was before buffing I will add.

 Is the point to make the rails so slick that stuff will not stick to it?

                      Cuda Ken

Although I have not used the "gleam" method, I am pretty sure the purpose (as was suggested in a post above) is to make the rail as smooth as possible by removing imperfections such as scratches or pits. These irregularities are a magnet for dirt which then gets on wheels and gets spread back on the track again, degrading electrical contact between the rails and the wheels, thereby degrading performance. Jamie

[jawnt]

Cudda Ken,

For what it's worth: Course sand paper leaves course scratches. Finner sand paper cuts off those course ridges leaving finner scratches. This continues as you go to finner grades of sand paper.

What the stainless steel washer does is fold those ridges over into the gouges left by the last grade of sand paper used. Think of it in terms of putting a piece of mild steel bolt in a vise, then taking a small ball pien hammer and lightly repeatedly tapping the end of the bolt. With patience you will begin to form a smooth head on the bolt.

Stopping the rail sanding at around 1200 to 1600 grit has the ridges fine enough that the washer can easily fold the remaining ridges into the remaining valleys effectively sealing the rail head so that there are no scratches to trap dirt and gunk creatinf dirty rail.

Hope this clears up your question ---

John T in the shinney cow pasture

[cudaken]

That I understand, thanks for the answer.

 

                                Cuda Ken

[Southwest Chief]

Thanks for all the replies.  Just what I needed.  I hope to get started this weekend.

[R. T. POTEET]

FIFTY CENT QUESTION: These all seem like very good suggestions but if you sand, and burnish, and polish and buff as has been recommended are you not likely to suffer a loss of traction maybe even a considerable loss of traction?

I don't know! I'm just askin'!

[tomikawaTT]

I have 'gleamed' rails on 2% grades with no apparent loss of traction - locos which slip with ten cars on un-gleamed rail will still pull nine cars up the gleamed grade without slipping.

One good gleaming can last a LONG time as long as nothing abrades the railhead.  I gleamed some track over three years ago, lifted and re-laid it two years ago and it still hasn't required anything more serious than dusting.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Mark R.]

I've experienced no change in traction myself. The same engines still pull up same trains up the same grades they did before burnishing the rails....

However ....

For those who still insist on using track cleaning fluid, clipper oil, WD-40, et all - you will most definitely experience some loss of traction. You no longer have that porous rail to help over-come any liquid crap applied to the railhead .... throw it all away ! Smooth, clean and dry - keep it that way.

Mark. 

[kiaya611]

I tried the stainless steel fender washer and it does look much better as the photograph shows, but I took it a step further.  I looked at the rail with a 10X loop and although the finish looked like chrome, the washer actually significantly scratched the surface of the rail.  I used a brand new, newer used and cleaned piece of track for my test.  Yes, I did use the "rounded" side of the washer.

The concept is a great one, but not with something as rough as a washer with it's many inherent imperfections.

 

Just my un-scientific test and 2 cents worth.

 

Steven

[Stourbridge Lion]

Steven - Welcome to trains.com!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I don't use a washer. I use the handle of a stainless steel spoon. Real stainless steel, not plated.

[kiaya611]

Hello Running Bear,

 

If you look at the spoon you are using, you will see scratches on it.  Stainless Steel being harder than Nickel Silver will put those scratched on the rail surface.  If I had a camera lens that would show the rail that I worked with, you would see clearly what I am speaking of.

I am searching now for a very hard, mirror finish stainless steel to work for this purpose.  Since metallurgy isn't my area of expertise and since there are many grades of stainless steel, it has been difficult for me to locate the correct SS that will work well for this.  It needs to be hard enough that rubbing it along the rails won't damage the surface of the burnishing piece of SS or you will just end up transferring those scratches to the rail.

 

Steven

[delray1967]

I've heard about using Stainless Steel (real, not plated), and even used a piece of Stainless Steel bar stock to gleam the rails, but why Stainless Steel?  I have a small piece of Tool Steel (about 1" x 1" x .25" thick) that has been surface ground to a very smooth finish, can I use that instead of Stainless? I also have a similar sized block of carbide with a mirror finish ground on one side, can I use that?  Is it a matter of the gleaming block just being harder than the NS rail, or is the composition of the metal as important?  If the gleaming block is very hard, and has a sharp edge, it could shave off rail, rather than burnish it...is Stainless just hard enough but not too hard?  I'm not a metallurgist either, but I know of reactions between dissimilar metals (dielectric corrosion for instance), I'm not sure if a hard ferrous metal is any different (for gleaming) than a hard non-ferrous metal. (To clarify to others reading this post, Ferrous indicates iron present in the metal alloy; Stainless Steel has little (or no?) iron in their alloys)

I'm asking as a curiosity, but also to possibly help others find a suitable, alternative, gleaming block.  Thanks for satisfying my curiosity!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It has to do with the burnishing block being substantially harder than the rails. You want the block to flatten the rails, not to have the rails groove the block as I've seen happen with regular washers.