Experimental wheel cleaning

Hmm... I think there are easier ways to clean the wheels, but maybe that's just me.

I had a 4 engine 2 rail MU...wheels slipping ..track and wheels needed cleaning..i said nah and just added another engine..all is well

Clem,

Nice idea, but in my experience (and I am in a maintenance window now cleaning all the cars on my layout, about 150) the only way to ensure each wheel is perfectly clean is to put the car upside down in a cradle and clean them one....wheel.....at.....a.....time.  Yep, time consuming, but not difficult.  IMHO my cars are worth this effort.

I wear a heavy latex glove, spray a bit of goo gone on a rag, spin the wheel set with my non-glove hand and rub away.  I do one side of one truck at a time, and remove the dissolved gunk with a clean rag.  Really gunked up wheels take a bit longer but the goo gone will dissolve it off.  Seventy cars into the project and I figure about 5-6 minutes per car.

I haven't tried denatured alcohol yet but based on my experience cleaning track, if the wheels aren't too dirty denatured alcohol could be substituted for goo gone.

Dave

This worked for me with this train because all the cars in this consist I did not want to pickup and turn upside down, all intermodal equipment.   I tried it on single boxcars and all the black came off and no sticky left behind.   Wiped the wheels afterwards with a Q Tip and alcohol and came up clean.  So it does work, on Flat tread and fast angle tread and Delrin or steel.   However I do think this is better used as a preventative measure, If you get all track and wheels absolutely clean then do this periodically  to keep it that way. 

Milwaukee Road Dave posted:

Nice idea, but in my experience (and I am in a maintenance window now cleaning all the cars on my layout, about 150) the only way to ensure each wheel is perfectly clean is to put the car upside down in a cradle and clean them one....wheel.....at.....a.....time.  Yep, time consuming, but not difficult.  IMHO my cars are worth this effort.

I wear a heavy latex glove, spray a bit of goo gone on a rag, spin the wheel set with my non-glove hand and rub away.  I do one side of one truck at a time, and remove the dissolved gunk with a clean rag.  Really gunked up wheels take a bit longer but the goo gone will dissolve it off.  Seventy cars into the project and I figure about 5-6 minutes per car.

 

If you want to speed the effort, consider your handy Dremel tool.  I make these from purple ScotchBrite and they clean wheels in a flash. 

If they're REALLY bad with the caked on ring of grease, I first peal that off with a screwdriver, then use the wheel.  I can knock out a car much faster than doing it all by hand.  While they're up there upside down, I also lube any that require lube.  I don't oil the needlepoint axles in the plastic inserts, those really don't benefit from oil, at least IMO.  I oil the Menard's cars well as they really benefit from a good lube job.

I use a Dremel with  wire wheel then a Qtip with alcohol and that works well on the wheels with the car in a cradle.

Mikey

I used to use wire wheels, but the wheels spit those tiny needles out all the time, very annoying!  When I stumbled onto using the ScotchBrite, it works great and doesn't fire stinging little needles all the time.