cleaning wheels.

From my experience with S gauge trains on NS track there is a simpler way to keep it all clean. I posted some of this at the beginning of this thread. The key is to clean all the wheels, plastic and the metal pickup wheels. I do it by moving the cars back and forth on a track section covered with a paper towel soaked with a contact cleaner/wash. I use a Caig product. Takes about five seconds per car for completely clean wheels. Engines require manual cleaning. I clean each car about once every six months. I use the same Caig product to clean the track with a cloth. I wipe high use track once every three months.

The layout gets a lot of use, I go through 8oz of smoke fluid every 6 months. For me the key is to keep all the wheels clean then the track stays a lot cleaner.

No matter what I do Gilbert track seems to get dirty over a weeks period and the pickup wheels begin sparking. I think the difference must be the surface roughness/finish of Gilbert track compared to scale Nickle Silver rail.

@trainbob posted:

I had been using goo gone and used to clean the track every week. Then switched to wd-40 contact cleaner and track cleaning chore has been reduced at least in half. However I am thinking there may be more to this issue than just the cleaner. It may be that operating conditions play a role. My operating conditions are as follows Atlas track, level platform, short trains and slow speeds. Just wondering what are the operating conditions of the guys who have a lot of trouble with gunk on their wheels and track. And I only run metal wheels but do use traction tires

Okay, I’ll attach a bunch of links for some related articles and comments.  Depending on how much you want to get into it, there is a lot of very good reading on this subject.

My test cleaning cars are those old flyer ones you get at a local train show – lots of gunk built up.  Here is a picture of a car I did an experiment on about an hour ago:

Upper left wheel is 91% alcohol with a bit of elbow grease.  Upper right, Goo-Gone with the same amount of elbow grease, as best I could.  Lower left, Easy-Off oven cleaner – no elbow grease.  Just wipe on let sit a minute or two, then wipe off with a Q-tip wet with water.  Lower right, the control wheel – all of the wheels looked like the control going in… Your call.

Goo-Gone, it turns out is a real problem, it didn’t even make the list of polar/non-polar solvents.  Like trainbob, I’ve been using it for years and I’ve been cleaning wheel after not that much running – again for years.  It really allows for black gunk buildup, making for less time between cleanings – no more.  If I use it now, I finish off with mineral spirits.

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

Fine sand paper for track and a cheap pocket knife for wheels.  Just that simple and politically correct environmentally green.

Charlie

Sand paper that is more gritty than 600 (meaning like 220 or 320) is much like Goo-Gone, it gives you the impression you have cleaned the track, but the scratches course paper leave only make for more arcing, more buildup, less time running trains between cleanings.  Apparently, that even goes for the Bright Boy.  Another item I’ve used a lot, again, no more.

A bunch of links:

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws...ne/index.html?page=9

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/5733

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/146

the No-Ox thread and how to apply it:

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7519?page=2

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7169

more later...

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Good morning Gentlemen,

This discusion going on in more that one place, I thought I would try to paste my statement from the other group, the article I mentioned here Tom had listed in his statement:

The only chance to keep track and wheels clean long term is NO -OX -ID Special A grease as mentioned in other posts running now on OGR.  I have been trying it NO OX  since 12-2021 and have had no sparking and have the best operation of my train ever including running slower than ever with a conventional control, 027 layout with 29 switches and post war engines.  Some say NO-OX has eliminated track and wheel cleaning, we will see if that is true as time goes on.  Read all about it on below OGR topic.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...8#157829273576836498

Charlie

Has anyone tried INOX? It is a cleaner/lubricant and is suppose to be great in maintaining a clean track and conductor? Here is a video about it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1E0QpNNKkA

@Ed posted:

Has anyone tried INOX? It is a cleaner/lubricant and is suppose to be great in maintaining a clean track and conductor? Here is a video about it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1E0QpNNKkA

Hi Ed,

I watched the video and of course the trains ran well on clean track.  I think the question is how long between cleanings?  Inox MX3 is readily available on Amazon so it is no longer hard to find.  I looked at the Inox website and found the dielectric is greater than 40 which makes it very polar and not recommended for long term track cleaning.  The website also states Inox MX3 is a lubricant (like for bicycle chains and chain saws) which I would think would make it iffy.  Another comment was it is not kind to traction tires.

I have no personal knowledge of the product, but based on the above it doesn’t sound like a good idea.  However, that said, most users give it high marks.

I would suggest reading the links mentioned earlier in this thread.  There is a lot of reading and good first hand, long term use information.  As Charlie stated, the NO OX Special A is very good, however after a lot of reading, I would say in a dust free environment.  If you have a dusty environment, graphite appears to be a better choice.  But always finish your cleaning with a non-polar (dielectric less than 3.0) solvent, Mineral Spirits being the preferred.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Tom and others

I believe NO OX Special A, a conducting spark grease that some how attaches to metal like steel, copper, aluminum and brass, and probably graphite will help eliminate dirty track by reducing sparking.  Sparking causes dust and grease and oil from gears and axles, to oxidize and creates dirty track.  Graphite and NO OX have both been used by some for many years, for track treatment but not much in O gauge.  My train room and house are central air conditioned and heated and have high efficient air filters that are change frequently.  But over time, house hold dust accumulates.  Household dust comes from cloth in clothing, carpet, towels, bedding, upholstery, curtains, etc. and my train room, above a garage and separate from the house, has less of the named dust sources and seems to collect less dust on surfaces.

I am not familiar with Inox MS3.  But so far, since my application of NO OX to track cleaned with mineral spirits in Dec 2021, my trains have quit sparking.  The post war locos run more evenly and much slower than ever with toy train layout.  So far I am well pleased.  The layout uses conventional control, tubular 027 track with 31 metal Marx switches.  Time will tell if my track stays clean long term and I never have to clean the track again, as some optimist ones say.

Charlie

What I would like is a wheel cleaner accessory that actually cleans the wheels and rollers as the train moves by.  This is one for HO.

The crude on the tracks starts on the wheels.

Making a box to house a set of rails with a motor or motors set transverse that have rotating brushes facing the two sides of each wheel and the underside of the wheel.  As a train moves over the rails past the set of rotating brushes each wheel is cleaned. The wheel cleaning box would be placed a bit lower than the track and attach to the track at each end.

That's usually as far I  get.

Maybe like this. with cleaning fluid in the tank that splashes up on the cleaning brushes.

Wheel and roller cleaning version

@Sgaugian posted:

I first hand "lathe" heavy build-up off plastic and metal wheels with a 3x40 (or other small flat head) screwdriver.  Then I use 91% isopropyl alcohol on Q-tips (not 70% that's 30% water).  Hold the head of the screwdriver against the flat surface of a wheel at about 2 o'clock with one hand at a slight upward angle.  Turn the wheel with your other hand toward the edge of the screwdriver and watch chunks and shims of the old stuff fly off.  Cleaning with the Q-tips in a similar fashion then goes much faster and produces better results.  If you want, then shine up metal wheels with a Dremel, but be careful not to use to course an attachment and/or too high of a speed.  

Exactly what I do on my O gauge and N scale stuff. Sometimes I use an Xacto blade on the really bad stuff, but that takes some practice to get good and not damage anything.

@Mike D posted:

Exactly what I do on my O gauge and N scale stuff. Sometimes I use an Xacto blade on the really bad stuff, but that takes some practice to get good and not damage anything.

Me too, exactly.

To polish wheels, after cleaning with a small screwdriver blade, I sometimes then use a soft wire wheel on my Dremel - spins those wheels like crazy!