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Rail-Zip treatment

I acquired a K-Line 2 truck shay, but found that it had electrical pickup issues which prevented it from reliable slow speed operation, especially through Fastrack turnouts. An experienced HO operator suggested I might try a product called Rail-Zip on the collector rollers.

I cleaned the rollers first with isopropyl alcohol followed by MEK. I then lightly coated the rollers with Rail-Zip and let the shay sit for 24 hours (per the recommendation from Pacer, the manufacturers of Rail-Zip). I ran the loco yesterday and there is substantial improvement - I can pull a train at reasonable speed around the layout and through switches.

I'm going to try treating the center rail with Rail-Zip (leaving out the MEK cleaning) to see if the performance can be improved even more. With the multi-wheel pickup on the outside rails I doubt they'll need any treatment.

Has anyone else already tried Rail-Zip on Fastrack? If so, what was your experience? If you saw improvement, how long did it last?

Original Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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