Re: Track Cleaning?? Thank you Keith and James, now I know how to clean the turnouts and where to buy the CRC2-26. I think I will use masonite to clean the rest of the track to minimize scratching. This has been a very informative thread. Thank you to everyone who has posted their thoughts. Joe
Re: Track Cleaning?? I wanted to add a few lessons learned since I started this thread. First is I don't think the Miniatronics gizmo helped at all. Second, locomotive wheels seem to be more of a problem than dirty track. I have finally settled on a CMX cleaning car followed by a Centerline cleaning car. If you have not seen a CMX cleaning car I would suggest looking it up. It's pricey but money well spent. The time and effort saved is worth the cost. And don't be afraid of the cleaning pads. You can make your own for pennies on the dollar from bulk fabric purchased at Hancocks or such other places. The strips I use on the Centerline roller are cut from cleaning cloth purchased at Dollar General. I lifetimes supply can be had for a few dollars. Isopropyl alcohol is my cleaning fluid of choice. I was able to attain some 100% a while back and it works great. When I run out I will resort back to the 90 proof stuff. For switch points and contacts I use a soft bristle tooth brush and the isopropyl. A few months ago I applied some of the NO-OX-ID to my rails. I had mixed results with this. I used to much for starters. After a week of cleaning I got must of it off my track and engine wheels. However I did notice that my engines ran better. I suspect a fine film was still on the track. The rail heads became dirty but trains still ran fine. I wanted to clean the track but decided to take a "wait and see approach" Most of what I had read from NO-OX supporters said this would be the case. After a few weeks lights started to flicker and trains began to stall. The "black gunk" build up was unbelievable. How a train could run was a mystery. I would have had to clean the track at least twice maybe three times in the span since fixing the NO-OX fiasco. I then proceeded to clean the track with my standard method. It took several passes as the build up was substantial. I can't decide whether to apply the NO-OX again, correctly this time and clean track longer but less frequently or just clean track once a week with just a few passes.
Thank you Howard for your input. I've seen the cars before but never thought about it that much until now. I can see where the roller car could be disguised with a removal structure much like a transfer caboose then both cars painted and decaled as part of a work train. Joe
At the TWMRC on test and tune night we would run a boxcar with a Masonite pad sprayed with the CRC 2-26 in front of an engine and then follow it with the centerline car (brass roller with scrubby paper towel wrapped around and a little alcohol. If there was a big build up the Walthars box car with the scratchy pad was put between Masonite pad boxcar and the engine. MKT James
Joe, I don't keep these cars on the layout or run them with other trains. They are much too heavy and the drag that the cleaning pad creates, even when soaked thoroughly is substantial. As a matter of fact I have to use an Athearn Genesis FP45 (this is an extremely heavy and powerful engine) to pull it and sometimes that's all it can do. I just clear the track it will be cleaning of all trains and make a couple of passes then I'm done. Takes about 5 minutes per track and that includes pad changing. No scrubbing or brushing and I don't have to worry about damaging scenery, if I had any. Howard
