Hey again,
I just got some turnouts I got from ebay and they need a good cleaning...and oiling.
In particular there is what appears to be hard glue on a spot in one of them.
Could use a bit of direction on cleaning them....right off.
Thks
Taking a guess, that spot could be matte medium, often used to fasten ballast down. Hit it with a swipe or two of alcohol and it should come right off. But if you plan on ballasting the track, it'll blend right in soon enough.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Depends. If it's just the rail that is a bit grubby and darkened, GooGone on a rag works well. If the whole thing, ties and all needs cleaning, you can give it a scrub with hot soapy water. This assumes that these are just turnouts, no attached electrical switch machines like with Atlas Snap Track. Dry well, direct sunlight is good for drying.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
You may want to reconsidder oiling. In track's environment, it will attract dust, get gummy and possibly cause electrical conductivity issues. Giving the moving parts a light puff of dry graphite will avoid these and it works well.
In fact, you reminded me I need to do that, so I just did a few, and man what a difference it makes! I'll be doing the whole RR next time out here. Dan