Yes

I recommend denatured alcohol

Gunny

I use denatured alcohol on an old white sock. It dries without a trace. I'd be leery of minimal spirits leaving a trace film. It may also attack certain materials. There have been numerous discussions here on the topic. Have you searched "track cleaning"?  

Bright boy.  Elbow geease.

Eliminate the "elbow grease" and get yourself one of these...  from Dremel

Versa 4-Volt Cordless Lithium-Ion Max Power Scrubber Cleaning Tool Kit

for about $49.95 at Home Depot.  Has a variety of easily used scrubbing pads.

For those who remember the Jim Barrett modification to the Lionel track cleaning car...this is like that on steroids.

It does a fantastic job.

The best cleaning solvents are those that are non-polar. Alcohols are reported to be the polar solvents that result in the most quick blackening of the track. I use Deoxit 5 very sparingly and don't clean the track very often. Kerosene is the best.

Here's a link to the article on the subject...

Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine       (click forward to the 4th page)

Extensive discussions elsewhere on this forum on this topic. Of note, mineral spirits (nonpolar solvent) is to be preferred to denatured alcohol (polar solvent), because polar solvents encourage the kind of sparking that builds up gunk on the track, while nonpolar solvents tend to prevent it. Nonpolar solvents tend to require more ventilation/safety precautions. Somewhere I have a table I downloaded from this forum with numerical polarity values for a long list of solvents. Mineral spirits was one of the best, as I recall. Others have reported good results with CRC 2-26, but I use it only on the center rail as it makes the outside rails slippery.

Always something to learn here! Perhaps I should save my alcohol for my beloved Jim Dandy Blow Torch!!! Although I would not likely use kerosene on anything plastic, i.e. Fastrack

I use 91% or 99% alcohol applied with a cloth. It effectively removes any buildups from the rails without having to apply excessive pressure that could damage the rails or ties. Since it evaporates quickly, I doubt it leaves any residue on the solid Nickel-Silver rails of my Atlas O track.

MELGAR

Last year, I started using Track & Rail cleaner ACT-6006. The label states that it leaves a fine residue that improves DCC and sound systems. After a year, I can say that I have noticed an increase in overall operation and sound. There also does not seem to be as much black residue on rails when wiped with a cloth. I run both DCS and Legacy and would recommend this product over the denatured alcohol that I have used previously.

You also might want to consider a track cleaning car for those hard to reach places or just to eliminate a lot of elbow grease.

I use the one from Northeast Trains in Peabody, MA - just coat the pads with your favorite track cleaning solvent.

Currently, I use Clorox wet wipes. They work well for the stainless steel rails of my Fastrack. Of course, I will probably invest in a track cleaning car for my new layout, since my layout has a fairly large section of track that I will find very difficult to clean manually. I've heard good things about the CMX Clean Machine Track Cleaning Car from Eric of Eric's Trains and a few others.

tractor bill

Many now have converted to mineral spirits for track cleaning.  You can eliminate all track future cleaning by treating tracks with NO OX,  conducting product.  I have not cleaned my tracks in over 2 years since application.  See OGR link below for detains.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...7#159660139094824137

Charlie

I've used alcohol in the past - 91%.  I started trying WD-40 Contact Cleaner due to polarity concerns.  So far so good - can't say one is better than the other right now.  I also started using NO-OX-ID after watching Welcome to RTNT (youtube.com) per the post above.  So far so good - too soon to tell probably

I use Goo Gone on the front pad of a NE Trains track cleaning car and leave the rear pad dry, it works great. You can use it with an old sock also.