hi,
what do you guys recommend as the best product to clean tracks?
thanks
jeremy
The GLEAM method and some elbow grease. It requires a bit of work on your part but it'll cut your track cleaning to almost zilch. I GLEAMED my track in 2006 and have only cleaned the track once since then.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Built several of the Masonite track cleaning cars a la John Allen years a go for a total cost of nothing. I have one on every train usually and my track stays very clean. We use the same method at the club the only given is you have to clean the Masonite regularly . It all depends on how much you run your trains of course.
~G4
19 Years old, modeling the Cowlitz, Chehalis, and Cascade Railroad of Western Washington in 1927 in 6X6 feet.
A club I belong to has been in existence since 1984 and we use the John Allen method as has been mentioned. We also only use metal wheels on our rolling stock.
We run DCC locos only.
I have put a decoder in an old MDC track cleaner and run that once in a while on stub ended sidings.
We run trains every week or two. This in a walk in basement with not great heat and no humidity control.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Hi,
As mentionned before I beleive the best method is gleaming the track.
Use only metal wheelset and car " a la John Allen " whith masonite pad.
May be an upgrade when the track is gleamed is cover it whith a very thin polish of "No-Ox" avaible at Walthers or directly from the manufacturer; reports say you don't have to clean track nearly anymore.
Marc
Jerm hi, what do you guys recommend as the best product to clean tracks? thanks jeremy
I bought a CMX car 9 months ago but have yet to use it, although the most recommended solvent for it is lacquer thinner. Someday, I will get that cleaning car up and running but until then, I continue to dip an old rag in denatured alcohol and rub the rails with my finger inside the rag. Works great.
Alton Junction
I've got a CMX car as well. I use it about 3 times a year. I've tried both lacquer thinner and alcohol as the solvent, and greatly prefer the lacquer thinner. It is, as they say in the instructions, a more "aggressive" solvent. If you adjust the drip rate appropriately, there is very little odor, but I'd still recommend running it on a day where you can open the doors and windows and get some ventilation.
I have subways running beneath my regular layout. Although I can get to most of the trackage by removing the liftoff sections, there are a couple of problem spots too small to reach, so a track-cleaning car is the most practical solution.
The CMX car is expensive, even when it's on sale. But, it's a great product and does a superior job.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
thanks guys for the replies
now that you mention the alcohol is rubbing alcohol the same as denatured alcohol and is rubbing alcohol safe to use on model tracks?
Jerm thanks guys for the replies now that you mention the alcohol is rubbing alcohol the same as denatured alcohol and is rubbing alcohol safe to use on model tracks? thanks
Yes,91% alcohol is safe to clean track with..That's all I use and a bottle goes along way.
BTW.I also use 91% alcohol to clean my wheels.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Cleaning the track with out cleaning rolling stock wheels is like changing your cars oil and reusing the filter.
I use alcohol and two paper towels. I lay the towels across the rails about 4 inches apart from each other (depends on how long the engine I am using) one has alcohol the other is dry. Then just run the train across them 2 to 3 times. First time I did it I was amazed at how much gunk came off the rolling stock wheels. Now I do it about once a month and there is not nearly as much gunk, but still get some.
I am sure there are better ways to clean rolling stock wheels, but this does work.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
My railroad Empire is in a very hostile enviroment and keeping track clean used to be quite a problem. After replacing most of the rolling stock plastic wheels with metal and gleaming the track things were much better. My next approach was to build my own version of a CMX type car. With copper pipe end caps and a coupler all soldered together to make a tank I mounted two Dremel polish felt pads in small brass tubes in the tank. A very small hole was drilled through the tube into the tank to let a very slow drip of cleanibg fluid onto the pads. Worked great. Somewhere I read that RailZip was nothing more than automotive transmission oil. I have been using a 1 to 1 mix of Trans oil and laquer thinner. By pushing this car ahead of my motive power I get good track cleaning as well as any wheels following. This has even proved to keep a few pieces of brass track clean that I am just too lazy to replace..
This rail cleaning thing pops up very often. I guess the most thing we all have in common is track
Happy Railroading
Cliff