with all the discussion about track cleaning and plastic vs metal wheels i want to share something with you guys. before i retired i used a lot of leather palm work gloves in my business. i alway bought the cheap chinese made ones by the case from a company in chicago. the palms and fingers are a suede like leather and the backs and cuffs are made from cloth. i have found that when i have a track clear like when i am staging the layout for an operating session running the leather fingers or even the palm of the glove over the rails picks up all the black gunk etc. even better that any any track cleaning device i have ever used. when the leather gets grungy, i use a fine bristle wire brush to clean it off and keep using the same glove forever. next time you are at a discount store that sells gloves like these, pick up a pair and try it. i think you will be pleased at how easy this system works and it is cheap too.
grizlump