Gary,
I think if you assembled some sections of it to make it easier to work with, a wire wheel on a Dremel type tool would knock that off. One or two passes on each rail with light pressure would clean it up nicely- not a polish job - just knock of the corrosion - wear goggles for sure - get some extra wheels - the process is not too stressful - it just takes patience to buzz a lot of rail
Sanding will remove the plating and be too harsh
Home depot and others sell a product called CRC 2-20. Spray each rail end and wipe with a cloth.
I did this with 250' of RealTrax on a layout that was in a barn attic for 11 years - we saved it - it even had some rodent fluid corrosion areas
I hope your medical issue is under control - there are enough curveballs in life - we don't need extra
