QUOTE: Originally posted by jecorbett Flix does a great job of cleaning the top of the rails but it is very difficult to apply neatly to the tops without getting it on the ties and the side of the rail. If not cleaned completely off, it creates an unrealistic green tarnish on the sides of the rail.
QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley but I did just buy a big bag-o-wheelsets and I'm in the process of converting my rolling stock now. When comparing track cleaning success, it would help if we know whether or not you've got a lot of plastic wheels.
QUOTE: Originally posted by cmrproducts cnw4001 You said: I wi***here was a magic solution to cleaning the tracks. There is – Metal Polish! Try it and see if you don’t notice a difference! So I would think that qualifies as a Club layout in size. The metal polish STOPPED track cleaning PERIOD! So this is not just someone talking out of his hat, we really do know what works. At our club, when we have shows, the trains run for 12 hours straight. So we find the problems real fast.
QUOTE: Originally posted by cmrproducts cnw4001 On my home layout (as well as the clubs layout) most of the 800 plus cars still have the plastic wheels. Now as I run them through MOW I will change them over to metal wheels but I think that probably 3/4’s of them are still plastic. What I have been finding is that the new plastic wheels are not picking up the dirt as much as the really old (‘60s, ‘70s & ‘80s) wheels do. It also could be that the wax/polish (the track is really waxed as that is what the metal polish really is) is transferring to the surface of the plastic wheels. This might be keeping the cleaner as the dirt is not sticking to them just as the dirt is not sticking to the rail heads! Now the reason I am saying this is that the Walthers Trainline engines with the old copper wheels would always pick up dirt quicker that the old Athearn powered metal wheels would. Now that we have applied the metal poli***o the rails the Walthers copper wheeled engines are not needing wheel cleanings (maybe once every 2 months or so) any more. I really have lost track of how often anyone cleans the engine wheels as we just don’t have to do it much anymore. Before we were using the metal polish we were cleaning the engine wheels 3 times a night. Yes, my layout area was that dusty. Now with the old track cleaning cars, we did not run them into every siding and industry spur. So the engines really were just picking up the dirt from those areas and transferring it to the mainlines. But once we used the polish I don’t clean nothing! BOB H – Clarion, PA