Hello out there. Can someone tell me how many times I should allow my track cleaning car go around my layout so that it does its job cleaning the track?. I usually let it go around about ten or fifteen times which seems to do the job. I'm just too lazy to clean it by hand... Is there a quick and simple method that I don't yet know about?.
The most frustrating part of the hobby for me. I have learned the hard way that all of my track which I painted (spray) has become problematic. I think problem #1 is insulated frog switch machines. I don't know where to get the other kind. Problem #2 is not soldering a feeder to every piece of track. Even with spot masking, paint and white glue (from ballasting) got into electrical contacts at rail joiners and switch pivots.
ok now on to your problem ... no one method has worked for me. I have abrasive erasor, woodland scenic tidy track, the age old alcohol/paper towel, wooden block rubs and yes ... stoddards metal polish! The polish really worked for me, but left a white residue all over my ballast. But it really worked ... no cleaning for months!
I haven't tried the track cleaning car because I didn't think it will work.
Well, there I babbled a bit ...
NP
every train i run has a car with a maisonite slider on it.
Multiple aspects apply. With DCC sound, it doesn't take much of an interruption or power to cause the sound to hiccup at a dirty spot (unless all locos have keep alive capacitors).
For me, I also run a masonite slider on a freight car in one or more trains running. About every 3+ months I run my CMX track cleaning car with denatured alcohol (some suggest lacquer thinner is preferred).
What helps a lot is that I "gleamed" my track, which involves treating the track, with very fine sandpaper, then burnishing (smoothing the tiny rough defects) by rubbing with a stainless steel washer, then polishing. Detailed instructions can be found in seveeral older threads with a search. See the post by Jeffrey Wimberly in this thread:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/212742.aspx
Lastly, I change my rolling stock wheelsets to metal wheels in almost all cases, to keep from accumulating and moving around the gunk that can tend to occur with plastic wheels.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Peahrens,
Doesn't running a track cleaning car with alcohol take the polish off the track you gleamed?
I use Centerline cars when I do clean the track. These or other ones that use a replaceable media pad like the Handi-Wipe stuff the Centerline uses pick up the grunge and turn darker as they clean. I judge by how much grunge is on the pad. The first pass is usually extra grungy, so I replace after that, then can do several passes before replacing again.
I use CRC 2-26 for a contact enhancement agent, so only clean track with the Centerlines rarely and mostly on hidden track that isn't convenient to reach. When using the Centerlines, I wet the pad with Aero-Locomotive Works ACT-6006 track cleaner and run one car like that, followed by another Centerline with a dry pad.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have been using Automatic Transmission Fluid on my HO layout for around 7 months. In that time I have maybe cleaned 5 sets of engine wheels. Here is a link to my orginal post.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/263149.aspx
I swear by it!
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
peahrens(some suggest lacquer thinner is preferred).
No way would I use that indoors.
http://www.kleanstrip.com/uploads/documents/GML170_SDS-1605.48.pdf
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Cheers the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
eaglescout Doesn't running a track cleaning car with alcohol take the polish off the track you gleamed?
The polishing referred to in the gleaming method is more properly described as burnishing. i.e. gentle rubbing the track with a hard but non abrasive metal to rub out small scratches. These scratches otherwise provide a spot for gunk to start collecting.
Dave