Cleaning 3 rail track

[237 Lionel]

Greetings'

                    What is the best or easiest way to clean rust from the inside female ends of a vintage Lionel 3 rail track? My train reverses itself when it gets to certain areas and I have been told that bad connection between pin and track is the culprit. I have already replaced the pins with new ones. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[chuck]

OK, why not just replace those problem track sections?  Tin plate three rail track is dirt cheap.

BTW, even if you were to succede in getting rid of the current rust, it will just rust again.  The tin plating is what keeps it from rusting.  If it's damaged/gone, so is the rust protection.

[cnw1995]

I wonder if that is really the issue - rust on the connectors. What if you ran a Dremel tool (grinder) across the top of your track?

[Bob Keller]

A round file will do it. But I'd think the rust would have to be caked pretty darned thick before it would harm the flow of power.

[ChiefEagles]

 "Ogaugeoverlord wrote [seems the quote feature is screwing up]  A round file will do it. But I'd think the rust would have to be caked pretty darned thick before it would harm the flow of power."

I think Bob is right.  You may have some rust coming through the insulators to the rail when the train puts pressure on them.  To clean them out, .17 cal wire bore cleaning brush.

 

[237 Lionel]

 The top of the track wasn't rusty but I did use a scotchbrite pad and go over it. After inspecting it closely it appears you may be right about the rust coming through the insulation on 2 pieces of the track. It makes sense that pressure from the train may be causing it to short for a split second. Thanks for all of the input, I appreciate it!

[sir james I]

Dirty track can be cleaned, but rust is a iffy thing to get rid of. The advice above sounds good to me but if you can, replace the rusty ones. They will always give you trouble. Clean and save the pins for future use.