Layouts and layout building

It's time for me to stop playing with the new locos and refurbish a few used ones on the shelves.  Some of these have quite blackened/dirty/tarnished? drivers. 

What is your best method/material/fluid for cleaning these?

I have a power driven wire brush gizmo that brightens them up somewhat, but not completely.  Should I use strips of emery cloth.....?.....seems tiresome and likely to get grit in the works.

Lacquer thinner? Alcohol?

Cisco Kid wrote:

It's time for me to stop playing with the new locos and refurbish a few used ones on the shelves.  Some of these have quite blackened/dirty/tarnished? drivers.  What is your best method/material/fluid for cleaning these? I have a power driven wire brush gizmo that brightens them up somewhat, but not completely.  Should I use strips of emery cloth.....?.....seems tiresome and likely to get grit in the works. Lacquer thinner? Alcohol?

On unpowered wheels I turn the wheels by hand as I scrape the tread clean with the Exacto in the same manner as above.

I don't use any fluids at all, and it works like a charm!

I use alcohol on a paper towel.  I put the alcohol on the towel, and then put the towel down on the track.  Put one truck of the engine on the towel and the other on the bare track (for power.)  Run the engine, moving it around as black crud is transferred to spots on the towel.  Repeat for the other truck.

If it doesn't run well enough to do this, turn it upside down and power it with clip leads.  Use a paper towel or Q-tip.

I would avoid using anything abrasive.  You don't want to scratch the wheel surface.  That will only encourage the pickup of more crud, and require more frequent cleaning.

If alcohol doesn't do the job, try lacquer thinner.

What I do is to put the loco upside down in a cradle, apply power and run it at full throttle, then very gently (and carefully!) work the sharp edge of an Exacto #11 knife blade across the width of the tread, working from outside inwards, then back out. This cleans off all the crud and the sharp edge of the knife burnishes the wheels a little bit. On unpowered wheels I turn the wheels by hand as I scrape the tread clean with the Exacto in the same manner as above. I don't use any fluids at all, and it works like a charm!

I highly recommend against this method.  You are scratching your wheels and creating little grooves for dirt and grime to live.

I personally use rubbing alcohol.  Its quick, safe, and it evaporates after you are done.

David B

Folks:

The paper towel/alcohol method works very well for me.  If the wheels are absolutely too cruddy to turn at all when placed on the rail (traaain shooow haaaul), flip the engine on its roof and feed the motor with alligator clips, and use an alcohol-soaked Q-tip.

Heavy black grunge deposits can be dislodged with a wooden stick.

I have occasionally used ultrafine sandpaper (800 grit, I think) and crocus cloth on very heavily oxidized wheels. Crocus cloth is probably better.  Sandpaper is of course not the best stuff, as it may scratch the treads, and if the scratches are too deep to polish out in normal running you're in trouble.  It's also possible to damage or remove plating.   I only use this when faced with extremely bad wheels - green-corroded brass, for instance.  Most oxidation polishes away quickly with normal running, once you get enough of the oily dirt off for the train to start moving.

A couple years ago or so, Model Railroader had a tip about modifying Atlas rerailers to hold strips of cleaning cloth over the rails and then running the wheels over the cleaning cloth.  I took it one step further and made a portable cleaning track.

http://chatanuga.org/pics/wlmr/nl0053.jpg 

It has two of the modified rerailers on it.  One is used wet.  The other is used dry.  I simply attach a pair of leads to one of my power packs and the wheels are cleaned in no time.

Kevin

http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html

reklein wrote:

I wonder why a person couldn't use the Gleem process on the wheels too??

Give it a try.

MisterBeasley wrote:

I use alcohol on a paper towel.  I put the alcohol on the towel, and then put the towel down on the track.  Put one truck of the engine on the towel and the other on the bare track (for power.)  Run the engine, moving it around as black crud is transferred to spots on the towel.  Repeat for the other truck.

This is what I do as well.  Use the heavier BLUE ones, they are more durable then the white ones.  I cut mine into strips just a little wider then the track, once the strip is dirty I throw it away and use a fresh one. 

MisterBeasley wrote:

I use alcohol on a paper towel.  I put the alcohol on the towel, and then put the towel down on the track.  Put one truck of the engine on the towel and the other on the bare track (for power.)  Run the engine, moving it around as black crud is transferred to spots on the towel.  Repeat for the other truck.

I use the same method and it works fine for me - although I use old cut up tee-shirts.

I would avoid using anything abrasive.  You don't want to scratch the wheel surface.  That will only encourage the pickup of more crud, and require more frequent cleaning.

I also agree that you should avoid using anything abrasive on the wheels which would result in attracting more crud.

Goo Gone may do a fine job at removing the crud, but I'd be concerned that it would also leave a slick residue behind which would need to be cleaned off too (doubling your cleaning work).  I use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, which evaporates and leaves no residue behind to hinder traction.  Just make sure your fingers are dry before handling your loco, unless you want your fingers to match your loco color(s)...    

davidmbedard wrote:

What I do is to put the loco upside down in a cradle, apply power and run it at full throttle, then very gently (and carefully!) work the sharp edge of an Exacto #11 knife blade across the width of the tread, working from outside inwards, then back out. This cleans off all the crud and the sharp edge of the knife burnishes the wheels a little bit. On unpowered wheels I turn the wheels by hand as I scrape the tread clean with the Exacto in the same manner as above. I don't use any fluids at all, and it works like a charm! I highly recommend against this method.  You are scratching your wheels and creating little grooves for dirt and grime to live. I personally use rubbing alcohol.  Its quick, safe, and it evaporates after you are done. David B

reklein wrote:

I wonder why a person couldn't use the Gleem process on the wheels too??

I think I will try this. Could one use the polishings pads for a power tool and power up the loco and add metal polish to the wheels? I'll let you know.

spidge wrote:

reklein wrote: I wonder why a person couldn't use the Gleem process on the wheels too?? I think I will try this. Could one use the polishings pads for a power tool and power up the loco and add metal polish to the wheels? I'll let you know.

Well I polished the wheels on two tunnel motors(n-scale), so time will tell. They did put out a noticably cleaner look and I was carefull not to polish the face of the wheels. I have almost all metal wheelsets so I will just allow them to burnish(to an extent) themselves. I also did it on a dc gp30 I have had for many years, but only one truck so I could compare.

I attempted using alcahol for the first time but found that railzip worked much better. I had some grunge on one loco and used the alcohol to clean one truck and railzip the other. The railzip worked with little effort, grunge and all. By the way don't use a Q-tip as the strands will get caught up in the wheels and unravel, instead use a t-shirt or cloth of some sort.

Good post. 

TA462 wrote:

MisterBeasley wrote: I use alcohol on a paper towel.  I put the alcohol on the towel, and then put the towel down on the track.  Put one truck of the engine on the towel and the other on the bare track (for power.)  Run the engine, moving it around as black crud is transferred to spots on the towel.  Repeat for the other truck.   This is what I do as well.  Use the heavier BLUE ones, they are more durable then the white ones.  I cut mine into strips just a little wider then the track, once the strip is dirty I throw it away and use a fresh one.

I use Handi-wipes, they work great but cost a tad more than paper towels.