WHY?

[Bill54]

I had two American Flyer train sets as a boy. I got my first set at four years old and my second at six I think. Neither of which I cleaned or anyone else cleaned. The trains were stored during most of the year but come Christmas they came out.

They ran around the Christmas Tree from 1959 through 1969 for two weeks each year that’s 10 years for those that’s counting until my Dad thought they were not needed any more.

During that time nothing was cleaned. I was too young to know what was needed and too young know about maintenance for a railroad.

Present day… I am just now getting back into the trains. I have a small temporary layout that is 5’ x 10-1/2’. I just assembled this track since February. So far I have cleaned the track by hand at least two times with alcohol. I purchased the Tony’s Trains CMX Clean Machine and used alcohol for the solvent with fair results.

Today I ran the CMX cleaner around the three loops of the tracks so I could have clean track for my new Athearn F7 –A- unit . Unfortunately after only 25 minutes or less I started experiencing problems with the engine stopping and then regaining power.

So my question to all you experts is: Why do I now have to clean my tracks so often when back when I was a kid I never cleaned them at all?

Bill

[bogp40]

Very heavy AC powered trains with enormous flanges running on steel track very seldom would have electrical PU problems compared to todays lighter sensetive locos. Some Lionel had the center rail sprung roller or shoe. A combination of these factors made them run like the Energizer bunny.
Now with the use of DCC and sound equipt products good contact is essential.
Bob K.

[IRONROOSTER]

American Flyer were heavier and the wider wheels had a lot more contact with the bigger rails. My current layout using S scale (as opposed to American Flyer and clones) with code 100 track only needs cleaning occaisionally - maybe every 2 or 3 years for the turnouts since I use power routing turnouts.

Enjoy
Paul

[dinwitty]

check the wheels for dirt/grit and clean them off.

put Rail Zip on the track and run the trains to spread it about.

[grayfox1119]

The problem may not be the track at all. Us e avoltmeter and check the voltage on the track at several places around the loop. I suspect that after the engine is heated, and not having had any maintenance done to the drivers or power pick-ups, brushes, etc. you have problems there, not the track.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dinwitty

check the wheels for dirt/grit and clean them off.

put Rail Zip on the track and run the trains to spread it about.

I dunno about RailZip, but I'd bet dirty wheels is your problem. You'd be amazed at how quickly they will put all that crud right back on your nice clean rails!

This is especially true if you have any plastic wheels -- they are crud magnets!

Alcohol usually works fine -- but you might also try acetone (very carefully). It is an amazing solvent, and will remove glue, dust, dirt, plaster, even paint! And leave no residue to attract more. But ventilate the area well, and be careful not to get it on any paint you want to keep. (It will also dissolve some plastics.) I use it in my CMX, and on a Q-tip for wheels. I clean everything at once, and don't have to again for a couple of YEARS (except when I get paint, plaster, glue, etc., on some spots).

[3railguy]

AC engines that draw 2 amps or more burn the crud off track. I can watch my postwar Lionel engines do this and have not cleaned the track in years.

[Fergmiester]

Several possible reasons. As *** pointed out continuity can be an issue as most of us have come to realize. Most of us solder our rail joints. other issues to be considered are:
-Get rid of the Brass track and with Nickel as Brass "gunks" up real quick.
-Getr rid of the plastic wheels as they will deposit a thin film on the track which
will "GunK" up
-Check wheels and wheel contacts/brushes as they can get fluff wedged in them.
-Check wheels for crusted "Gunk" and clean/scrape as required.
-Humidity is a killer you may need a dehumidifier.
I'm sure others will add to the list

Fergie

[BRAKIE]

Sounds like the loco has dirty wheels ..Try cleaning your wheels as others as suggested.
As far as brass track and plastic wheels they can be use without constant cleaning.. ..Also your locomotive may need to be cleaned and service as well.

[Eriediamond]

All of the above is good sound advice, but lets go a little deeper just in case the above doesn't fix your problem. I'm leaning towards grayfox's answer here since the loco runs fine for a while. Is this your only loco? If not, do the others experience the same problem? Is the loco stopping from lack of electrical power or shorting out ? Both will stop the loco. Is the loco excessively warm or hot when this happens? Could be that even though the loco is new, it needs lubricating and lack of it is causeing an excessive load on the power pack and it's tripping off, especially if its one from a train set. Funny things sometimes happen when a loco is run and heats up. I experienced a brand new loco purchased at a LHS and run on their test track just fine. After a vew minutes of running on the layout it did the same thing. Just quit. After setting a few minutes would run fine. Problem--- broken wire leading to a brush. Does the loco stop on a curve or a turnout all the time or is it random stopping. If its on curve or turnout, it could bee either the pick up is loosing contact with the wheels or shorting out when the truck swivels for that curve. Just off hand, I would say if it was something with the track, it wouldn't take 25 minutes of running to show up. Good luck Ken

[emdgp92]

Athearn F units usually don't have these problems. That is, unless the wheels are dirty, and even then, they'll still run OK. I'd start by making sure the track is clean, then cleaning the locomotive wheels. Another thing I'd check (or have the local hobby shop look at), is a possible short in the locomotive. Sometimes, the thin metal contact strips can cause a short. If that's the case, replace them with wire.

[trainfreek92]

I still have not got the track on my 5x5 Ho layout clean. I bought it at a yard sale and it was sitting outside for the winter! I use Crest smoke fluid? My LHS recommended it. Happy Modeling.

[teh7777]

I use LPS1 to clean my track....works like magic!

[tstage]

Bill,

What kind of wheels to you have on your rolling stock: plastic or metal? I'm suspecting plastic. Plastic wheels tend to degrade onto your track after a while. Your American Flyers had metal wheels and therefore you didn't need to clean the track. Course if it was the metal track like mine, you still had to sand off the rust every so often or the trains wouldn't go. [:)]

The best thing to do is to eventually replace all the wheels on your rolling stock or passenger cars with metal wheels.

Tom