Track cleaning

A

Arizona Heat

New Member
Jan 26, 2006
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Kingman Arizona/Dolan Springs Arizona
I have been searching the forums for the last 2 days trying to find the post on track cleaning and can't find it.....so I will just ask
curse.gif
!!!! I finally got my HO set up on a 4x8 and have my setup running but I am having a slow down on power in a couple of spots and I figure that maybe I need to clean the trackhamr Rather than buy track cleaner, is there a way to clean track otherwise?
 
i use goo gone and an old rag. Squrt a little goo gone on the rag and rub it along the rail with your finger. rubbing alcohol will probably also work.

kevi
 
Flitz (which is a cream-like substance is real good) - or an electronic cleaning spray on a rag works good.

Using a track cleaning "eraser" over time or heaven forbid - sandpaper, causes scratches to the railhead which eventually gathers dirt.

Running your trains more often is a good way to keep the tracks in tip top shape. Or it's a good excuse to use on the wife anyway.:thumb:
 
I built one of those track cleaning cars, you know the ones that drag a piece of hardboard or quarter inch plywood underneath. Mine's so heavy it takes two units to haul it around,I spray it with contact cleaner and clean it off every couple of trips(about 70 ft.) seems to work ok.
 
Like Relic, I use a masonite pad mounted under a boxcar to maintain my track. Every so often I wipe down the rails with alcohol prep pads just to shine them up. Every once in a while I have an 80s flashback and put a drop of Wahl Hair Clipper oil on the rails about every ten feet.
 
Hi,

Don't clean your track...KEEP it clean. To do that WITHOUT goops, solvents, abrasives AND elbow grease, take a peek at my TRACK GUARD on eBay. Search for HO TRACK GUARD and find the solution to your problems...Be quick about it, offer ends tomorrow PM.

Good luck!

Gus (LC&P).
 
I cut two 1" squares of 3/4" pine from some scrap boards I had. Took some rags and cut them in 3" squares. Wrap the wood pieces with the pieces of rag and fasten it on the top with a push pin. I put some goo gone on one piece and apply it to the track; take another piece of wood with a dry cloth attached and buff it off. Some people say that goo gone causes crud to build up, but if you rub it off with yhe clean piece it seems to work. The little pieces of wood seems to save your finger from wearing off and is much faster.
Colin
 
Thanks for all of your suggestions......Hard to decide which one to use so here is what I did.....Wrote all your names on small pieces of paper folded up and placed the small pieces of paper on a flat car and decided that the first one of the papers that fell off would be the winner (took nearly 2 laps around the track)

announce1 And the winner was......

sign1 Jim Currie
:curse: Wahl oil was sure hard to find !!!!!!!Walmart was the place...$2.39 for bottle
 
Arizona Heat said:
Wrote all your names on small pieces of paper folded up and placed the small pieces of paper on a flat car and decided that the first one of the papers that fell off would be the winner (took nearly 2 laps around the track)
Now that's a creative way to choose!!! :D I've been doing a recent experiment on my layout with Wahl oil on an isolated section with one locomotive. So far I'm very impressed with the results but wanted to test it for at least two weeks to be sure no gunk built up and caused problems. So far so good! I hope you have as good results as my initial experience has been showing!

Here's a link to that thread: http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=18690

Ralph
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wahl works great. but it sounds to like you have a bad conectio some where. dirty track usually will stop you bad connection will slow you down because it allows a reductio in voltage. on a 4X8 you probably don't have o lot of conections. try soldering all of them to insure voltage is constant.some may suggwst running another power wire from your transformer to the track where it slows down to make up for lost power but on a 4X8 you should have no problem with power lose with one power feed her is my thoughts on Wahl http://forum.zealot.com/t156623/
Someone recently had a post on soldering. If my memory serves correct it was a real good post. If anyone can find it I think it would be felpfull her. If not the best quick tip I can give is use a low voltage soldering iron.
Les
 
No-Ox

Arizona Heat said:
I have been searching the forums for the last 2 days trying to find the post on track cleaning and can't find it.....so I will just ask
curse.gif
!!!! I finally got my HO set up on a 4x8 and have my setup running but I am having a slow down on power in a couple of spots and I figure that maybe I need to clean the trackhamr Rather than buy track cleaner, is there a way to clean track otherwise?
Click to expand...

This was my reply to an N scale thread.
Dennis

Member



Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Sherwood Park,Alberta, Canada
Posts: 75


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Track Cleaning
I took some advice from a thread of a few months ago and bought some NO-OX and I haven't cleaned my track for 3 months now.
It is an Anti-Oxident grease and it should be used very sparingly.
A thimble full will do a large layout.
I spread a small amount of No-Ox onto the pad of an old Roco Cleaning Car and just pull it around all tracks behind a locomotive.
I also did the tracks at my club and we have had the same results.
There is not a flicker from the loco headkights.
I do clean my loco wheels once in a while but this stuff works like a charm.
Dennis
 
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