Track Cleaning...one last time

Denatured alcohol sure seems to work for me, and sure lasts for one complete Run Beer, Drink Trains operating session.

91% isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel will get my fastrack completely clean, until I run trains on it. 

Keep in mind a good part of the "dirt" is actually the oxidation on the rails from the electrolysis when the current passes through the wheels and the rails. Unless your going to push your trains around the track, its gonna need a period cleaning.

In some sense, nothing is ever perfectly clean, but "clean enough?"  Sure, happens all the time.  Usually each Satursday morning on my layout: a little iso alcohol, a track cleaning car and a little work if and when needed.

Doesn't matter in the least so long as the track is kept relatively clean and the trains are performing properly.  Definitely not something I have ever worried much about because even if I tend to be somewhat lazy about "chores," I have always done a pretty good job of keeping my track clean in scales ranging from Z to G.  Can't even remember the last time (if ever) that I had to remove any gunk from drivers or rolling stock wheels.  It ain't rocket science.

I am curious about "burnishing" older tubular track.  I have seen where this service is available for $1 per section but wonder if a bench grinder with the appropriate wheel would work as well.  I think they get up to about 350 RPM and the burnishing ad says they do it at 700 RPM.  Anyone had success with it? Bench grinder would essentially pay for itself.

I'df be careful using any type of power tool on a track section unless it is otherwise beyound recovery - and until I proved that by using cleaning fluids and methods you know are benign.  A bench grinder could take all the surface off of track in nothing flat if used even a tiny bit too aggresively.

IMHO the best way to keep track clean is by running your trains frequently. If your wheels are clean and you start with clean track and equipment that isn't overlubricated then by running your trains often enough then gunk won't have a chance to buid up on the track.

People spend all kinds of time weathering their track, trying to hide the 3rd rail and trying to make it look real.  Then we spend all kinds of time talking about cleaning the track.   Really the only time my track needs extra cleaning is when I don't run trains for an extended period.

Hi

 Posted this befor here are the pic

 We use this for our club.

 It works well we have close to 700ft of track

 makes thing easyer for us.

I make my own track cleaning cars and run one on almost every train, in N, HO and O. They have a replaceable denim cloth pad (material cut from old pants) that I change when it gets dirty. That way my tracks get cleaned with regular train operation, wheels stay cleaner longer, and there are no continuity problems.

I've made these rail cleaner cars in different configurations for different scales and used them successfully for 20+ years. They are a good easy useful do-it-yourself project.

I adapted this BEEP into a self-powered track cleaner.

If you don't clean track regularly, you eventually end up with the crud on your wheels.

Who has used the CMX Clean Machine? Does it work better then anything else that is on the market? It appears to be a great product but very costly.

Denatured alcohol, a clean soft cloth and a vigorous application of elbow grease, have worked well enough for me for the past 50 years. 

Denatured Alcohol...works well...

GOO GONE is a super cleaner. Make sure it is completely removed from the rails before running Engines. I use one Track Cleaning Car with the Pads saturated with it and one Track Cleaning Car with Pads to Dry it off right behind it.  This removes any GOO GONE that is left on the Track

WORKS GREAT!!

Fredstrains

I contend that the tops of the rails are all that is needed to be "clean enogh" to make good electrical contact.  So I occasionally run my homemade track cleaning car dry around the layout.  Works fine.

Yards that sit for days without any thing running on them I clean with denatured alcohol and an old tee shirt.

.....

Dennis

See page ninety of the April/May 2013 OGR.

I know that Lee will not recommend Simple Green.

Green Scotchbrite and follow up with 70% Isopropyl - Cheap and effective...

I did the net search about some "rubbing alcohol" types that leaves residue...

I use the 99% stuff if I can find it, currently I can only find the 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.  The less the alcohol, the more water is in the mix.

No to rubbing alcohol!

Where do you normally find the 99%?  Pharmacies?

I used to find it at Safeway, but when they went out of business, I haven't been able to find it locally any more.  I now use the 91%.

Can anyone give me an idea on the weight of the CMX Clean Machine? I'm building a 3 boxcar set of cleaning cars using lead for the pad pressure and I'm looking for a target weight to get resonably close to.

OVER-LUBRICATED...How many will raise their hand and say, "Guilty"? I will be the first to admit to this. It took many years to break the, "Dirty Habit".

So to answer my own question,I found a mention of the weight on TonysTrains. The CMX-O weighs in at 3 pounds. If everything goes as planned I'll post the final product in a few days.

Track cleaning threads pop up faster than dandelions on my lawn!

I'm always moaning about the dreaded chores that come with our hobby/sport. Track cleaning is at the top of my list (followed by engine maintenance and changing traction tires -UGH!). I despise cleaning the track, but I believe it is necessary.

Luckily, I have one of those Trackman 2000 cleaning cars. It does a very good job, but every now and then I still manually wipe down the track. When I do, I use Bounty Paper Towels.

But a word of warning: one time a small fleck of paper tower torn off and fell onto the track, unnoticed. I ran a Lionel Legacy Geep and that fleck of paper got caught in the engine drive gear and it popped some of the teeth off the gear. BUMMER! Engine out of commission -- and it still is.

I need to bring it to Charlie at Nassau Hobby Center for repair.

Right now I only have a carpet Central loop.

I can say that I cleaned the track when I laid it and not since. It's been there 8 months now.

I run the train nearly every day and I'm not running smoke until I get some more fluid my wife does not object to.

Only once in all that rime have I cleaned the track in any way and that was right after I changed the layout, I had to clean the added track, nothing else.

It gets oxidation sitting around in a box, Trains running every day or two will keep that rubbed off.

Now, when I do clean I run a pair of Cars made with Dennis' design, front one with Scotchbrite pad,  other with paper towel pad, change / refold the paper towel until it comes back clean. How many laps depends on track condition when you start.

One of these days I'll make that Vacuum car with the carvac I have for the purpose. It looks like I'll need 2 cars together for it, it's pretty long.

These are metal gears, right?  I'm amazed that paper towels were enough to break them!

You'll likely need a power truck, they don't replace the individual gears.

Alcohol for track cleaning? I was once told by Mike Reagan from Lionel that you should NOT use alcohol to clean your track because it pulls or leaches something vital out of the metal and will eventually do harm to your track. So many of you who post here on the forum seem to have good results with this but I cant help wondering why Mike would say this if he didnt have some knowledge as to why this was so.

Thanks

Well, I've used it forever, and so far the only thing it's leached out of the track is the dirt.

While I have great respect for MR's knowledge base, my experience suggests that any damage is going to be so long term that I'll be gone! If you come up with more concrete information, I'm certainly not going to say it's not possible...