C&O Fan
I used Blue Magic (liquid) only because Wal-Mart had it on the end of an aisle and I grabbed a bottle weeks before I ever decided to try the metal polishing my track.
When I was so frustrated with my layout and decided to try something new I just grabbed the Blue Magic and put it on a piece of HO cork and rubbed it on the rails. Used a clean piece and buffed the track and that was it. I would clean about 10 feet at a time and buff.
It really goes fast (considering having to do it all by hand). But you can be sure that you actually get a section clean as you can see the rail is shiny and bright and if you miss any it shows up dull.
Also using the cork as a buffer you can feel how easily the cork slides and if you have missed a spot it will drag enough that you feel it.
I tried using a cloth and it left too much lint at all of the rail joints. Also tried a piece of Homasote and it just left dust pieces too!
Now others of our group have used Mother’s Mag wheel polish, any type of silver polish paste that the wives had up stairs (naturally there were repercussions from that)!
Just about any type of polish will do except the ones that leave an oily film to them (Brasso and some Chrome cleaners).
BOB H – Clarion, PA
BOB H
What kind of metal polish do you use ?
Name brand ?
This would work for most of my layout except the Tunnel and Bridges
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
TA462
I tried all of the different cleaning cars, drags, abrasive blocks.
And YES they all worked, to a point. I was back cleaning the track again in 2 weeks to get ready for my Thursday night OPs session. If I didn't my operators were cleaning the engine wheels several times during the evening.
I tried the metal polish on a whim, figuring that it would work no better than the clean machine (meaning I would have to redo it in 2 weeks).
Well I did one section and the engines ran well all night with no wheel cleaning. In 2 weeks the same section worked smooth all night. And then again in another 2 weeks they still worked great.
So I tried another area of the layout and my Atlas RS1 smoothed out all night until I went onto a section of track on the mainline that had been cleaned with the clean machine earlier and the engine started jerking and stalling. I figured that I would have to clean the wheels but I wanted to clear the mainline and get back up the hill to the yard. Once the RS1 was back on the metal polished section is smoothed out and ran smooth for another ½ hour.
At that point I shut down the layout and all of the operators helped clean the track, which took all of 2 hours by my limited crew of 5.
That was back in July of 2003. I figured that if I had to do the polishing again in a couple of months it would be well worth it. As 2 months went by and all of the sound engines kept working with no sound drop outs. I figured I would keep on running the layout waiting until it would not run the engines like it did back when I was using the clean machine and the other types of flapper cars (as I had several types).
Well I am still waiting for the layout to stop running and it is now June 2007 (one month short of the anniversary date when I last cleaned the track in 2003.
Now you do not have to believe me and but I am happy with the metal polish and have thrown away all of those cleaning cars. I don’t need then nor do I want them. This is why I said that they were dumb. I just wished I had learned about the metal polish 20 years ago.
TA462 wrote: cmrproducts wrote: DO YOU LIKE to CLEAN track? BOB H - Clarion, PA I don't clean my track, my CMX Clean Machine does it for me. I only clean mine every 6 months or so and its more for preventative maintenance then for poor running. I like your idea but for the amount of time involved polishing the track I would much rather get my MOW train coupled together and run it for awhile.
cmrproducts wrote: DO YOU LIKE to CLEAN track? BOB H - Clarion, PA
DO YOU LIKE to CLEAN track?
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I don't clean my track, my CMX Clean Machine does it for me. I only clean mine every 6 months or so and its more for preventative maintenance then for poor running. I like your idea but for the amount of time involved polishing the track I would much rather get my MOW train coupled together and run it for awhile.
Where did you buy your CMX Clean Machine ?
and how much was it ?
selector wrote: This comment might be a bit aside of the topic, but I feel that it is worth keeping in mind. No matter what you elect to use or to try from time to time, the best way to clean track is still, and always will be, running trains often and using metal wheels. At least, it is a really good form of prevention.My preference is using very fine grit sandpaper and then keeping the rails clean by the method above. I don't use solvents, and I never have to clean my track....ever....not with EZ-Track before this, and not with nearly a full year of running trains on this current layout. I will admit to having to touch up places where the powered wheels spark at longer gaps or at frogs where the arcing and near-shorts take place in Peco and in W/S turnouts. Carbon builds up in short streaks at those places, but mostly where I used lacquer instead of merely cutting gaps further out. With the re-gapped frogs, no more carbon.
This comment might be a bit aside of the topic, but I feel that it is worth keeping in mind. No matter what you elect to use or to try from time to time, the best way to clean track is still, and always will be, running trains often and using metal wheels. At least, it is a really good form of prevention.
My preference is using very fine grit sandpaper and then keeping the rails clean by the method above. I don't use solvents, and I never have to clean my track....ever....not with EZ-Track before this, and not with nearly a full year of running trains on this current layout.
I will admit to having to touch up places where the powered wheels spark at longer gaps or at frogs where the arcing and near-shorts take place in Peco and in W/S turnouts. Carbon builds up in short streaks at those places, but mostly where I used lacquer instead of merely cutting gaps further out. With the re-gapped frogs, no more carbon.
Selector
Doesn't the sand paper scratch the rails ?
Well you guys are right STP fails the smell test and is a deal breaker
I tried some rubbing alcohol it seems to clean ok
I going to check Radio Shack I'm sure the have a cleaner that won't leave a residue
If one spends time running a cleaning car do you get into each industrial track and passing siding and staging track?
What do you do with all of the cars that are on the layout while you are running the cleaning cartrain?
With over 2900 feet of track and 800 plus cars and all of the staged trains running a dumb cleaning car into every piece of track I would be spending weeks trying to do a good job.
And how do I know this as I tried doing it before using the metal polish. If I had a 4 x 8 then a cleaning car would work but the dirt is getting on the industrial tracks (which I have over 100) and the staging tracks to move all of the trains out of the sequential staging would have me fill up all of my lower level tracks and have no room to run the CLEANING train.
While a small layout works fine for a cleaning train a large layout gets rather complicated unless you only clean the main and skip the rest of the track.
Might as well not waste the time as the first train into a non cleaned section just picks up the dirt and spreads it onto the nice clean main line!!
And if I am going to run a train it is going to be doing switching not running in circles. That's for Christmas at the Club shows!
Using metal polish on the rails cleans the track as well as protecting it from attracting dirt!
And NO it does not cause any loss of traction.
This using cleaners on the rails does just what they are supposed to do CLEAN.
But then you have to keep doing it over and over again!
Since I used the metal polish (way back in July 2003) I have not cleaned nor polished my rails since. It is coming up on 4 years now!
And all of my sound engines run great! I clean the engine wheels OH! maybe once every other month or so. I really do not keep track of the wheel cleanings as they are so few and far between them.
And for the record I do run both metal and PLASTIC wheels on the layout, so the story of metal wheels keeping the track clean is not the total answer (but I have to admit it helps a lot - and I am slowly changing my 800 car fleet over as time permits).
Everyone keeps harping on these toxic chemicals and their use in enclosed areas YET modelers are using a lot more toxic items on their layouts than most people are exposed to! Maybe we don't understand how little these things effect us in enclosed areas (all warnings state use in well ventilated areas) most basements are not well ventilated!
Petroleum based products for track cleaning makes me wonder about the solvent effect it might have on the plastic ties.
I saw some ties get turned into goo when a small cup of laquer thinner got spilled on them. Seems like fuel injector cleaner might do the same thing.
I share my layout space with a gas-fired hot water heater. Since the stated flash point of injector cleaner is well below the temperature of the heater's open-flame pilot light, I'll pass. There's enough junk in Low Earth Orbit now; adding my garage roof to the collection would not improve the situation!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
fifedog wrote: C&O Fan - Even though I'm a big fan of The King 43, I tend not to use his sponsor's products on the model railroad....I use GOO GONE, and all I've ever encountered was--->clean track.
C&O Fan - Even though I'm a big fan of The King 43, I tend not to use his sponsor's products on the model railroad....
I use GOO GONE, and all I've ever encountered was--->clean track.
Well Fife The article did say you could use Goo Gone as long as you wipe it clean
Meyblc wrote:I work on Fighter Jets, have now for over 18 years. Jet fuel is actually less explosive than regular gasoline. Jets fuel is also a great cleaning agent, if you can stand the smell. It's a fairly common practice to take a rag that is damp with jet fuel and use it to wipe down greasy and dirty area's of the jet. I never thought about using it in the hobby though. I think I'll pass. I already spend enough of my time smelling like JP-8.
Just a follow on note to fan the flames (so to speak). Being a Fuels Chief in the USAF, there is a misconception on how "explosive" jet fuel is. Meyblc is right on the money. In fact, its very hard to to ignite JP-8 (jet fuel) with a match, usually we used a bit of gasoline to get it started. Don't ask how I know this other than it was one of the more distasteful (and smelly) tasks we had in Iraq.
I would be worried about using STP in the enclosed space just because of the smell.
Rick
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
STP Fuel Inj. Cleaner has a Flashpoint of 130-152 Deg. F
See page 5
http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/products/msds/armorallstp/stpsuperconcentratedfuelinjectorcleaner.pdf
According to information on the STP web site, their fuel injector cleaner is made from jet fuel. It would probably be extremely explosive. I've never heard of using it for track cleaning.
We use lacquer thinner in a CMX Clean Machine or Nevr-Dull Magic Wadding Polish to clean the track at our club layout. Lacquer thinner is also explosive, but in the small amount dispensed by the track cleaning car it's hardly noticeable.
We tried Goo Gone on a Centerline track cleaning car and it left a sticky film on the rail that just attracted more dirt, so now we run the Centerline car dry behind the CMX to mop up any residue.
Has any one used STP fuel injection cleaner as suggested in the recent article in MR "Tuning up your layout " for cleaning your track?
I was using Goo Gone but the article said unless Goo Gone is wiped clean it could leave a film that would end up insulating the track
I also wonder if electrical tuner cleaner would work ?
And yes I know about polishing with silver polish
TIA