For those like me who don't have a local hobby shop. My only choices for model RR supplies are either to drive 1 1/2hrs to Kansas City, which is not feasible for me because I have a full-time job, or via mail order. Anyhow, I've been experimenting with Brasso metal polish on some old track sections. It seems to work well without a whole lot of effort and can be obtaned almost anywhere. I got mine at an area Ace Hardware for lessthan $4.00 for an 8oz bottle. Has anyone else tried this product? Am I on to something, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Questions and comments welcome.
Under construction: The HO scale freelanced Trexler & Charlestown RR. A shortline serving SE Nebraska and NE Kansas, circa 1992.
Mineral Spirits... a GREAT track cleaner. It won't leave an oily residue to attract dirt. Unlike alcohol, it won't leave the track bone dry that will cause small pits from training arching (run your trains in the dark and see) where dirt will pile up.
I did this right before I used No Ox (google it for train applications) and I haven't had to clean my track in over a year!
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
pmsrr
When I first began using Metal Polish to clean my track - I looked at using Brasso - BUT
I remembered that (from too many years ago in the Army) that Brasso seemed to leave an OIL finish on the metal surface (as it was claening BRASS and we all know how fast it will tarnish.
So I stayed away from that.
I now use Blue Magic (liquid) or Mothers Mag Wheel Polish (paste) and they both work well.
When I first metal polished my track it was 5 years until I had to clean my track again - and this was a siginificant acomplishment as I have over 3300 feet ot track to clean - so
having to clean track IS a MAJOR PROJECT !
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Why dont you cut a piece of hardboard like Masonite. Just run it over the track and it will clean it good. Matter of fact you could use a pink block pencil eraser. Thats how I always cleaned my H.O. slot car track. Kevin
Kevin
While that may work well on the main lines
How do you do the sidings ???
With 3300 feet of track - and only 1000ft of it main line - that leaves a lot of sidings/industrial tracks that do not get cleaned and it is really hard to get a track drag to the ends of each and every spur!
My layout is no roundy round - we have operations twice a month with 15 to 20 operators - SO
Having the equipment run is mandatory!
I tried the track drags - fluid type cars - rollers and had to run them evertime I had an OPs session!
So I was spending more time cleaning than Operating!
I thought that uisng MetalPolish would be a joke - just as using Wahl Hir Clipper oil - WD-40 - ATF fluid - Laquer Thinner - and any other type of fluid that has been recommended here and many other forums!
While they all worked - the ONE THING that has to be done is continually using them over and over -
Like we are Addicted to Cleaning Track - I NEED to clean the track - or I have MORE FUN running my track cleaners than running the trains! ;-)
I tried the Metal Polish and I was impressed - to say the least!
After 5 years the track still did not have to be cleaned - YES that is 5 years and I was running 30 to 40 some trains in an Operating session - twice a month!
No stalling at turnouts - nothing - sound engines always ran great with NO sound drop-outs!
I still have to occasionally clean the engine wheels but that is only monthly (instead of nightly - before the Metal Polis treatment)!
But then again some really like to do track cleaning! ;-)
Again YMMV
A little work up front will make the cleaning job in the long run a lot easier.
First clean the track with denatured Alcohol
Second use 600 grit sand paper to get the pits out of the rail tops.
After that just wipe the rails with denatured alcohol periodically and you'll be set.
If you want even more trouble free track, look up the process called gleaming. Basically after using the 600 grit sandpaper you take a stainless steel washer and rub the top of the rails until it shines. Then you use metal polish. After that the track will rarely need anything more than a quick rub or alcohol wipe.
Springfield PA
I'm seeing a lot of great track cleaning tips in this thread! Thanks for the replies, everyone and thanks for the heads up on the oily residue from the Brasso. Good thing I experimented with scrap track, eh? I forgot to mention that I did buy a pink block eraser like was suggested and got decent results from it. I'll keep it handy for future use and try the other tips that I read here. Thanks again and happy New Years.
I have gleamed all the track on my layout.
Now I just use a rag dipped in denatured alcohol every month or so for a quick wipe-down.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
I to use denatured alcohol. The only trouble I have is findinig a cloth that doesn't leave lint behind. Some suggestion would be nice. last cloth I use I spent close to a hour picking it out of the drive trucks.
I found that cleaning cloth found at Automobile supply shops work great. Lint free and nice and soft.
I've only heard the alcohol causes sparking/pitting once before. Is this common? An urban myth?
Are you saying that track needs to have some oil or polish on it in order to prevent any sparking?
What does the bone dryness have to do with things?
Thanks.
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
The polish is used at the end of the gleam method to remove the small scratches left over. The smoother the rail the better. Pitts and scratches give dirt a place to hold on and for arching to occur.
Capt. Grimek I've only heard the alcohol causes sparking/pitting once before. Is this common? An urban myth? Are you saying that track needs to have some oil or polish on it in order to prevent any sparking? What does the bone dryness have to do with things? Thanks.
First things first….. track cleaning a personal preference thing and will probably start a LTS fight or two over which way is best. Probably the “best” thing is try several ways and see what works for you.
Having said that, on to your questions –
The problem with oils are they are too “wet” and leave a “wet” residue on the tracks which dust and dirt cling to… just what you are trying to un do in the first place. Just my 2 cents anyway as I know some folks love their oils for track cleaning.
I don't think there is anything you can do to prevent sparking. I think it's just minimizing it. The better the electrical contact the less chance of arching. When there is arching, pitting begins in the rails. Pitting produces stuff that becomes that black gunk and puts small spots in the track where dirt and grim will build up… just what you are trying to un do in the first place. Bone dry is a condition that is good for arching. I did find the residue left by the mineral spirits were dry to the touch and acted more like a wax and made better electrical contact. Dirty track lends itself to arching, making the track even dirtier. I got the mineral spirits method from a post from a Joe Fugate post several years ago. I can’t find that one but here is another one from him on mineral spirits and alcohol and hopefully explains it better than I can.
From the JF post - I found cleaning my track and wheels with rubbing alcohol left things too clean. Turn off the lights and watch your loco wheels spark on DCC as you're running. Each spark blasts the wheel and rail and micropits it, causing a fine black metal oxide powder buildup on the rails.
I ran across a chemist's analysis of the "black gunk" several years ago and it consisted of dust, metal oxide powder, and organic residue (plastic wheels, fingerprints, loco lubricants, lint).
I experimented with mineral spirits instead for cleaning the track and wheels and I have standardized on it instead of alcohol. If you don't try to get everything bone dry, but allow a slight residue from the mineral spirits to remain on the track and wheels, when you turn off the lights, you will notice the sparking is noticeably less. And the black gunk buildup takes longer, too.
I suspect what's happening is there's less blasting of the track and wheels, and thus less black metal oxide residue being formed.
I ran my own tests and was very happy. I used that method alone until I found a post on Train Board and the use of No Ox
Here is a reply to thread on another board that I posted on No Ox if you are interested in that method. By the way, after reading the first No Ox thread I found my old 1971 copy 764 Helpful hints and there was the original Wescott article – it was an interesting read.
I have tried the gleaming method too. It works well and I would have probably used that eventually (after cleaning with mineral spirits). It seemed like a lot of up front work too me.
NO OX for your track
Submitted by ratled on Thu, 2010-06-10 16:14.
ratled - I'm a born again hard fan of a product called No OX for your track
After reading this thread : http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=111157&page=5 I'll post the exact content at the end of this to make it easier than looking through the whole thread for the No Ox. I tried it last November for my garage layout. I have not had a chance to run trains much since, then but when I can, I can go out and run trains like the day I put it down. No wiping, no cleaning before no nothing. My wheels are clean as that that day too. No restarts on the sound engines- just smooth running!!! I would like to add a Atlas vacuum car like Jeff S demo'ed a while back for an occasional dust pick up.. I'm sold! I run all PK2 wheel on the rolling stock. You can get No Ox through Walthers now.
Prior to doing the No Ox thing I did a good over all cleaning by wiping the whole layout with Mineral Spirits.
The thread read on No Ox -
I thought I would jump in with my 2 cents.
Everyone has their own method of cleaning track to ensure smooth running of locos. All will swear by their method as being the best. With the exceptions of WD-40, Goo gone, or oil, they will all work to get smooth running. One of the best appears to be the gleam method, but is labor intensive compared to No-Ox and No-Ox will last just as long or longer with much less effort.
Before I continue, IMO there is something very important that most model railroaders have missed.
For those that may not know, Linn Wescott was a famous model railroader who was an editor of Model Railroader for 16 years. In an article from '764 Helpful Hints for Model Railroaders' 1965 - third printing, 1970, he covers the subject of track cleaning vs. treatment, and is what clued me in to the use of NO-OX. The article is too long to post, (almost a full page). This is sage old advice, but still accurate with the exception of No-Ox’s evolution into a paste form. I consider this article the best advice on track that I have ever seen, bar none.
I have posted my experiences with NO-OX for the benefit of other model railroaders on other forums besides this one. I was met with a lot of acceptance, but also a lot of resistance. The resistance all came from those who have NOT tried NO-OX. I couldn’t understand resistance to the use of a product that works as well as it does, and it finally hit me. Linn Westcott’s article was last published in 1970. With the exception of those that have read the article, this information has been lost to the model railroading population. Without this information, the majority of modelers had to develop a way to get their locomotives to run smoothly. The answer to the problem was to clean track - RELIGIOUSLY, RELENTLESSLY, and OVER and OVER again. In 1980 his article would have been out of print for 10 years. Without Westcott’s information, the practice of cleaning track on a regular basis became an accepted part of model railroading. A modeler who has been doing it for 29 years (since 1980) could be called an expert on smooth operations, and many have published their experiences with nice shiny track. A modeler with 29 years of experience, who gives advice, is to be reckoned with seriously. So many of them have published or posted their experiences that it has become gospel. Unfortunately, they may have missed the key information in Westcott’s article. I ACCEPTED THE GOSPEL, AND CLEANED MY TRACK WEEKLY, LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.
Any relatively new model railroader who suggests that track cleaning is not necessary would naturally run across an “expert” who would scoff at this “new technique”. I believe this is why I ran into resistance. The funny thing is it’s not new. Linn Westcott’s article was first published in 1965, and I suspect that he tried NO-OX a few years before that. That would make the “new technique” 45 years old, and it still works, even on the newer track, DC or DCC.
I applied No-Ox to my track 5 years ago and have not had to clean my track since then. I bought a quart of it back then, but only used about a ¼ teaspoon on my 700 feet of track. I had so much left that I started giving away samples. Those sample giveaways resulted in many testimonials from amazed and happy users. A few years later I contacted Sanchem (the maker of No-Ox), and told them about my results, and the results of others. At the time there was no mention of its use in model railroading. They revised their site to include my testimonials and my application directions and can be seen here by scrolling down to paragraph 9:
http://www.sanchem.com/aSpecialE.html
Those same directions are included in every container sold by Bar Mills. Art Fahey told me that he has been using No-Ox since the 70’s and that his N gage layout runs like a watch. He also mentioned that he couldn’t understand why more model railroaders weren’t using it. IMO it’s because of Linn Wescott’s lost article.
I have been keeping a running record of testimonial results that can be seen here:
http://www.nscale.org/forum/showpost.php?p=171276&postcount=1
One final note. To my knowledge, EVERYONE that has properly applied No-Ox has nothing but GOOD things to say about its use. The only bad comments come from those who HAVE NOT TRIED IT.
Ok, you asked a couple of simple questions and I gave you this long answer. Hopefully some it answered your questions
Thanks ratled! Joe is local (regional) to us and I've spoken with him a couple of times so I'll bet he mentioned it. Thanks for the links. I'll rethink my use of alcohol now. I was happy with it but then I'm just testing freshly laid track at this point. I'll see if mineral spirits and no ox have scents that'll "hit" me in my windowless train room. (Migrainer, unfortunately.) Thanks again for the long answer. I tend to give long answers too.
Ratled,
Read on the Sanchem site you linked to that RWC used No-Ox on turnout points. Have you ever tried it on the wheel surface where the loco electrical contacts rub?
Thanks for the great info.
Dave
From Mt Pleasant, Utah, the home of the Hill Valley and Thistle Railroad where the Buffalo still roam and a Droid runs the trains
Hey Dave, no I haven't tried it there. Might be worth it though.
Ratled
I have a small tube of De-Ox which is required where aluminum electric cables are clamped into electrical panels. Any idea if it does the same thing to rails as No-Ox?
Thanks again,
I don't know if they are the same thing. Every time I have heard of something else being use that "is just like No Ox" the results were not good. As cheap and easy to get as No Ox is, and expensive as locos are getting, I don't think it's worth it.
Where do you find No Ox? I am in the process of gleaming my layout, but if this works just as well without the effort, Im in.
Walther's sells it http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/171-226
You can get it from the manufacturer http://sanchem.com/ox.html
And there are a few who sell it on that auction site. Little tubes big enough for most layouts for about $3.00 delivered
I missed a couple of posts here, seemingly.
I have never heard of denatured alcohol causing arcing. It evaporates cleanly, leaving little if any residue. I only get arcing when I leave something on the track () or when I a derailment.
For rags, I take my old white undershirts (100% cotton) and cut them up into 6" squares (roughly).