Brite-Boys: Good, Bad or Indifferent?

[CSX_road_slug]

Hi all,

My track's long overdue for cleaning; even though my locos run somewhat OK on it, I can see the oxidization build-up.  My question: Is it OK to use a brite-boy to rub the tracks clean?  Or is it something that was more applicable to the days of brass track? 

I've heard a few people say I should never use a brite-boy because it will scratch the track, and cause even more dirt to accumulate on it.  Other people say it's perfectly fine, and the only thing other than solvents [which might leave residue] for really getting caked-on crud off the track.

What are your thoughts on this?

[selector]

Wiping with alcohol should get much of the crud off for you, and then you can follow up with a quick, light buff using the Bright Boy.  I don't know why they would market something so successfully and widely used if it were as deleterious to the tracks as some folks insist they are.

[Midnight Railroader]

 

I've heard a few people say I should never use a brite-boy because it will scratch the track, and cause even more dirt to accumulate on it. 

Aw, come on, Brite-Boys are perfectly fine. They are not abrasive like sandpaper. And, as Selector points out, if they were bad for your track, they wouldn't be for sale so many decades after they were introduced.

[CAZEPHYR]

Wiping with alcohol should get much of the crud off for you, and then you can follow up with a quick, light buff using the Bright Boy.  I don't know why they would market something so successfully and widely used if it were as deleterious to the tracks as some folks insist they are.

 Many of us including myself use a Brite-Boy.  Once you use them, they do leave tiny scratches that gather more crud and cause problems with DCC in the long run.   Cleaning with a cleaner might be the best way or burnishing the rails with a contact burnishing tool that does not scratch the rails.  

 The rolling stock wheels also gather crud and must be cleaned at some point or they will continue to unload crud back to the rails.   

The reason I use the Brite-Boy is they work quickly.

[Tilden]

You can use a bright boy as the first step in gleaming track!  Followed by the 400 grit, followed by the 600 grit, followed by.......

 Tilden

[7j43k]

I amn one of those who feels the size of the abrasive grit in Bright Boys is too large.  When I use an abrasive, I use a "Pink Pearl" eraser.  It's basically a big blob of the stuff that's on the end of a pencil eraser.  It seems to me to have a much finer abrasive than the Bright Boy.

I'll add that I prefer not to use an abrasive if I can avoid it.  Sometimes I just wipe the track with a paper towel (dry).  Other times I might use a paper towel with a solvent.  I've used kerosene, but I think it leaves a slight residue--the famous Wahl clipper oil leaves one too, doesn't it?

Anyway, I repeat that I try to avoid abrasives, and it's for the same reason mentioned by another poster:  I'm worried about putting scratches in the rail surface.

 

Ed

[Tilden]

I agree, some track cleaning ereasers are quite hard.  The Perfect brand of track cleaning ereaser is 240 grit and that seems about right.

 Tilden

[luvadj]

I gave up on Brite-boys a few years ago. I only use alcohol and a paper towel or a nylon brush on a rotary tool (only once...on low speed). There's less of a chance of abraision to track and wheels.

 

[CSX_road_slug]

OK, so far we have 3 'in favor', 1 'maybe', zero 'against'...

 

[Mark R.]

I don't know why they would market something so successfully and widely used if it were as deleterious to the tracks as some folks insist they are.

The same could be said for Athearn's sintered iron wheels, but we insist on preferring nickel silver wheels now. What about plastic freight car wheels ? - we've since learned the benefits of metal wheel-sets. And lets not forget brass track - it was the standard for many years until we discovered the benefits of nickel silver track.

It's all about progress and knowledge. Something that was marketed so successfully for so many years has been displaced by better products and methods. The Bright-boy is as old as brass track itself. We are learning new and better methods of track cleaning and maintence and it has been proven that ANYthing abrasive used on the rail scratches the surface and attracts dirt and gunk more rapidly. The current trend that is growing more popular is the use of polishes and burnishing methods.  

With that said - I'll tip the scale ....

I'm fully against them or anything that is abrasive. I adhere strictly to metal polish ( like Flitz ) on a rag and buff them to a shine and am currently in the process of burnishing the rails as well. I can go for months on end without cleaning the polished sections and haven't had to touch the burnished sections for over two years !!!. Draw your own conclusions.

Mark.  

 

[Railphotog]

We cleaned the rails on our modular layout with a Brite-Boy, as many of the modules hadn't been operated for a while.  The trains worked worse after the cleaning!  We figured out that the material removed from the track still stayed around as fine dust.  Wiping the tracks with a dry rag cleared it up.  I now use alcohol on a rag to clean mine, it sure does show the removed crud after a few passes.

 

 

[joseph2]

I notice my Brite-boys get harder the older they are. Oldest one is about as hard as sandstone. I only use one which is still flexible,and then wipe with alcohol.  Joe

[tstage]

I bought a Brite-Boy but have never used it.  I prefer Isopropyl or rubbing alcohol and a lent free cloth.  I wouldn't even consider using sandpaper of ANY grit.  Why?

1. You scratch the smooth surface of the track, leaving crevices to catch more dirt and debris
2. You still need to clean off the tracks after you finish sanding them.

I'll stick with alcohol and mechanical rubbing.  I clean my tracks maybe once a year - twice, at most.  So, to answer your question: No to Brite-Boy.

Tom 

[pastorbob]

I have a couple of brite boys, but the only time I use one is when I get a little scenery residue on a rail, then I use brite boy very lightly to loosen the scenery.  Otherwise, my track cleaning is two Tony's CMX cars, one wet, one dry on a work train.

Bob

[BRAKIE]

I would be lost without my bright boy..I use it as needed on hard spots.

IF and ONLY IF it scratches the track the scratches must be small enough to need a microscope to see.

[Texas Zepher]

My question: Is it OK to use a brite-boy to rub the tracks clean?

Decide for yourself.  Examine a piece of "dirty" track with a good 10X magnification lens (like a Coddington or Hasting's triplet) or a jeweler's loup.  Rub it with the bright-boy and then re-examine.  If you can live with what you see go for it!

I'm in the "no bright boy" camp.  All those little scratches collect dirt faster than before. The bright-boys work great but one has to keep using them and use them more frequently.  They have been banned from the club I belong to.

[CSX_road_slug]

 Wow, I knew if I waited long enough, the 'nay's would come out!

I don't know why they would market something so successfully and widely used if it were as deleterious to the tracks as some folks insist they are.

The same could be said for Athearn's sintered iron wheels, but we insist on preferring nickel silver wheels now. ...

Maybe it was the sintered wheels on my set of Ahtearn RTR AC4400's that contributed to their poor performance Thursday night, which led to me thinking about the track cleaning question...

I bought a Brite-Boy but have never used it. ...

Yep, mine is still inside its original blister package.  And from the looks of things, that's where it'll stay!  Guess I'll head over to Wally World and pickup some metal polish, that seems to be the most trouble-free approach. 

Thank you everyone for your replies!

 

[bogp40]

I have a couple of brite boys, but the only time I use one is when I get a little scenery residue on a rail, then I use brite boy very lightly to loosen the scenery.  Otherwise, my track cleaning is two Tony's CMX cars, one wet, one dry on a work train.

Bob

Used to use them for all track cleaning in the past. There were times at the old layout that a dozen of us members would be scrubbing the rails all over the place before shows or operations.

Now the old club, and most of the handlaid brass rail was first done in 1953-54, was in a musty dusty basement of an old building. The layout was old and we used old methods to try to keep it clean. Don't know whether the new layout with nickle silver and in a climate controlled space is staying so much cleaner do to this and only clean the track with alcohol or laquer thinner in  track cleaning car.

A brite boy is only used if for some reason scenery glues or paint gets on any unprotected rail.

I believe that they are abrasive, but it's not a rail grinder. Yet some of that ancient brass in the old club had some spots where I could see that the brass railhead was worn and rounded off. From normal wear or cleaning over many, many years--who knows.

I guess it's your choice as to what to use to keep the rails clean, pending your individual circumstances and conditions.

 

[C&O Fan]

Like others I prefer to use alcohol but in some cases when I spill super glue on the rails or

paint 

{don't ask ! }

Then i will use a bright boy

[bogp40]

I used a couple of Brite Boys on my layout and my clubs layout for a few years.  I bought a CMX Clean Machine so now the Brite Boys only get used if I get glue or scenery material on the track.  They still have a place in my tool box.  I discovered a quick way to clean them.  Get a old piece of carpet and rub the Brite Boy on it, it really cleans them up. 

Another way to clean those nasty old and crudded brite boys is to scrub them on some end grain of any wood cut. There's a lot of that under the benchwork, so I need not go too far.

[RRCanuck]

I use Bright Boys but usually only after I've done painting or scenery work nearby.  Otherwise, I use naptha on a rag (Ronsonol lighter fluid) - seems to work fine, but one of these days I'm going to experiment with the "gleam" approach. I'm looking forward to the day when the various construction projects here and there in the house finally end, and the dust levels drop off to "normal"...lately it's been a pain in the rear.  Cheers.

[Autobus Prime]

I don't know why they would market something so successfully and widely used if it were as deleterious to the tracks as some folks insist they are.

The same could be said for Athearn's sintered iron wheels, but we insist on preferring nickel silver wheels now. What about plastic freight car wheels ? - we've since learned the benefits of metal wheel-sets. And lets not forget brass track - it was the standard for many years until we discovered the benefits of nickel silver track.

It's all about progress and knowledge. Something that was marketed so successfully for so many years has been displaced by better products and methods. The Bright-boy is as old as brass track itself. We are learning new and better methods of track cleaning and maintence and it has been proven that ANYthing abrasive used on the rail scratches the surface and attracts dirt and gunk more rapidly. The current trend that is growing more popular is the use of polishes and burnishing methods.  

With that said - I'll tip the scale ....

I'm fully against them or anything that is abrasive. I adhere strictly to metal polish ( like Flitz ) on a rag and buff them to a shine and am currently in the process of burnishing the rails as well. I can go for months on end without cleaning the polished sections and haven't had to touch the burnished sections for over two years !!!. Draw your own conclusions.

M:

Flitz MSDS:

http://www.flitz.com/msds/polish.pdf

I suspect the "solid polishing powder" component is a mild abrasive like diatomaceous earth.  As far as I know, all metal polishes contain some sort of abrasive, which is how they can rub off tarnish and dirt.  I don't see this as a problem; no surface is every going to be perfect.  A mirror-polished piece of metal looks like the Grand Canyon if you magnify it enough.  What we don't want to do is use too coarse an abrasive.

I think one has to use some abrasive in the first cleaning of really old and neglected track.  This is the one case where I'd expect to see actual oxidation as a problem, or an oxidized, rough surface that has collected and held even more dust and dirt.  I have found that either Brasso metal polish rubbed into a soft wood block, or 600 grit sandpaper, seem to be about even in dealing with this heavy fouling without leaving a bad finish.  Once I have gotten that off, and burnished the track, and wiped it with alcohol, a light occasional cleaning with alcohol can remove further dirt accumulations. I'm still not sure that 1200 grit crocus cloth wouldn't be better, but I haven't rounded up any of that lately.

(Edit: If we really want to overthink this, we could use a different abrasive depending on the average size of dust particles in a particular region. :)  Basically, any abrasive can be looked at as a large collection of sharp cutting tools that plane at a surface.  Any scratches left will be proportional to the abrasive grit size; 600-grit averages 16 microns, 1200 about 7.  Airborne dust comes in a huge range, depending on the source, from 0.1 to several hundred microns and up, with some particles large enough to see floating around.  I suspect it is the large ones that cause us trouble, but this is just conjecture and heinous overthinking...)

(Edit2, and I really will stop now:Diatomaceous earth, for comparison, comes in various grits, but typical particle size is 8-24 microns.)

With Athearn wheels, plastic wheels, brass track, Bright Boys, and pretty much anything in model railroading, there always seems to be a complication - how much of the reputation is actually based on valid observations, and how much of it on the mythology that always seems to build up like oily dirt around these observations? 

I do think a Bright Boy looks like it contains a fairly coarse abrasive, so I've always been a little hesitant to try them.  They also are hobby shop items; I can buy 600 grit paper and Brasso at the hardware store.

[pastorbob]

Clean track has been a problem as long as I can remember.  Built my first real HO layout in 1959 after graduating from college, and have had 4 more since then, the current layout was started in 1988. 

I have never tried the Flitz or whatever that stuff is, have nothing against it, but doesn't sound workable for me as I have a lot of hidden track, three decks, helixs and such, and I am getting too old and soft to get down on the prayer bones and polish the track.  So I use my work train with the two CMX cars and seldom have to do any additional cleaning.  However, I don't allow plastic wheels, I keep locos serviced and cleaned, and all is well.

I have used brite boys in the past and found that track cleaned with them seemed to need more cleaning more often.  So I went to Tony's and my work train.  Been happy ever since.

Bob

[Anonymous]

I'm not going to knock anybody's opinion, because we all should run our railroads the way we want to., BUT

  To validly prove this thing one way or the other will require some scientific testing complete with control groups.  At this point we have mostly unproven theory mixed in with a little witchcraft.  I would think at a minimun you would have to start with three sections of new rail, all manufactured from the same lot, to minimize differences in alloy and manufacture.  One section of rail should be the control group and remain uncleaned in anyway.  One section should be chemicaly cleaned, alcohol or what have you, one section to be cleaned with the brite boy or other abrasive.  The sections should be subjected to the same levels of heat, dust, and humidity, and have trains run over them the same amount, and with identical make ups of engines, wheels, etc.  Ideally no variables such as curves or grades should be introduced.

  Additonally some objective and not subjective crieteria of how clean is clean and how dirty is dirty is needed. Until then we are all just expressing our opinion or otherwise swaping stories.  Perhaps there's a graduate student out there who's lokking for a project, or an engineer who could set up a test protocol several of us could use.

  Personally, I use the briteboy and don't seem to have problems.  I suspect those advocating a finer grit have something, but once again I'm just guessing.  I also wipe down occasionaly with alcohol, but more to degrease than anything else.  I'm loath to try anything that leaves an oily residue (clipper oil) because of the potential traction problem.  At any rate, I simply don't have much of a dirty track problem.  Perhaps this is simply a matter of perception on my part (otherwise known as fooling yourself) because the nickle silver rail is such a major improvement over the brass I used years ago.

JBB

[BRAKIE]

My question: Is it OK to use a brite-boy to rub the tracks clean?

Decide for yourself.  Examine a piece of "dirty" track with a good 10X magnification lens (like a Coddington or Hastings triplet) or a jeweler's loup.  Rub it with the bright-boy and then re-examine.  If you can live with what you see go for it!

I'm in the "no bright boy" camp.  All those little scratches collect dirt faster than before. The bright-boys work great but one has to keep using them and use them more frequently.  They have been banned from the club I belong to.

 

Thanks for proving what I been suspecting for years..If one needs a microscope to see the scratches then they're to small to be concern with.

After all our models is that finicky to begin with.

[Mark R.]

I don't know exactly how scientific this is, but I have been doing the testing as was suggested for over 2-1/2 years.

I took three tracks within my yard for the extensive testing.

1. Track one was "cleaned" with 800 grit water paper and nothing else.
2. Track two was polished using Flitz metal polish
3. Track three was polished with Flitz then burnished with stainless steel

I usually run my trains once or twice per week - not very often by some standards. The results were more than apparent even in a short time span ....

1. Track one developed noticeable deterioration in performance after two weeks.
2. Track two required a quick re-polish around six months.
3. The burnished track hasn't been touched in the 2-1/2 years with no change in performance or appearance.

Even metal frogs on Atlas turnouts that have been burnished retain their "chrome-like" appearance almost indefinitely !!!

As a perfect example as to how a rough surface deteriorates faster - set two pieces of metal outside to weather .... one is freshly sandblasted and the other smooth and polished. The rough one will begin to age / weather / rust almost overnight - the polished piece will take weeks before any signs of aging appear. Different scenario / same principal.

---

As for the comment ....

"If one needs a microscope to see the scratches then they're to small to be concern with."

.... continuous use of the brightboy will keep making the scratches worse until over time they ARE a concern !!!

---

Mark. 

[ham99]

I suspect the physical environment in the train room has much more affect on the track than the cleaning method.  Moisture [humidity], dust, heat source, temperature changes, even lighting can affect the track, and certainly frequency of use.  I use a Bright Boy, alcohol, Formula 409, Rail Zip, an Atlas vacuum car, a piece of cork roadbed, and other methods as the need arises.   

[Texas Zepher]

Examine a piece of "dirty" track with a good 10X magnification lens

Thanks for proving what I been suspecting for years..If one needs a microscope to see the scratches then they're to small to be concern with.

First a 10X magnification is by no means a microscope.  Second if we aren't concerned with things too small to be seen with the naked eye then the dirt on shouldn't be a concern right? I certainly can't see it.  So, that's true what it the point of this whole thread? Track cleaning should not be an issue.

[Texas Zepher]

I don't know exactly how scientific this is,

Unfortunately, it is not because all the variables have not been controlled.   Even what JBB has suggested is not controlled.   One would have to eliminate any interaction of one section contaminating the other.  That means totally separate tracks so cars and locomotives could not run from one onto the other. The locomotives (if any are used) would have to have the exact electrical and electronic characteristics.  Any cars wheels would have to be exactly the same.  The cars themselves would have to have the same weight, etc. etc. etc.    I just got done judging a science fair ISEF type), and none of the projects totally isolated their variables --- sigh.  Highest score I gave was a 72 and that was being generous.

I have thought of many ways to test this, but none of them are practical.  It would take a massive amount of space, lots of time, and more money for equipment than I care to spend on it.  Something the Mythbusters could do with their TV budget, but I am certain it is not interesting enough for the general population to listen to and definitely not enough to care about. 

[BRAKIE]

Examine a piece of "dirty" track with a good 10X magnification lens

Thanks for proving what I been suspecting for years..If one needs a microscope to see the scratches then they're to small to be concern with.

First a 10X magnification is by no means a microscope.  Second if we aren't concerned with things too small to be seen with the naked eye then the dirt on shouldn't be a concern right? I certainly can't see it.  So, that's true what it the point of this whole thread? Track cleaning should not be an issue.

 

Depends on how one worries about clean track..At the Bucyrus club we haven't clean track since July and we have no problems running trains.

Again if we need to use 10x magnifier then we are talking about scratches that must be micro sized..

Perhaps there is a need to review the very basics of the hobby?