Lubricants

[M1FredQ]

Since pulling out my Dad's collection in storage for the last 25 years. I found a mold growing on the rolling stock, boxes, and even the 4-6-4 Hudson. There was also a "whitish corrosion on the metal parts.

I went to work to remove the mold by using a moist very soft tooth brush and paint brush with a slight amount of Dawn Dish washing liquid. It cut through the mold nicely!!
I dried everything off best I could even using Q-tips for the hard to reach spots.
To lubricate the metal parts and remove corrosion I used a product I have been using for years to clean up old military surplus rifles. It's called "Break Free".
I have found this to be an outstanding product. I have brought back to life many an old rifle, I also use it on my bicycle chain, gear shifting mechanisms,etc with great success. When I ride my bike it is nearly quiet. So I took a chance and used it to clean and lubricate my Dad's 1951 Hudson train set and rolling stock he collected over the years. The corrosion and remainder of the mold came off. It seemed to nourish the plastic and die-csat metal of the Engine. After 3 or 4 applications and cleanings it left a nice sheen to the metal and plastic and wheel assemblies. I ran the engine a few times cleaned the gears with the Break free a few times and lubed the gears with Break-Free Collectors oil. That '51 Hudson ran really well almost quite. When I hooked up 5 of those K-Line die-cast metal heavy Hopper cars it pulled those and a caboose with no problem!!!!!!! The Plastic on the boxcars, hoppers, tank cars and cabooses look really nice now!
Has anyone had similar experiences or what is your program for dealing with trains in long term storage.
Keep in mind this stuff was kept in a basement of an old house built in 1859 in the Chicagoland area, the basement had flooded a couple times, windows kept open in the Summer months.

[phillyreading]

Not sure what Break Free Collectors oil may have in it, but check the color of the plastic cars in a week or two. See if the colors fade or not, as I would think that Break Free is rather strong to be used on plastic.
Something like Labell's # 107 oil will work for plastic. Get this at your local hobby shop.

Lee F.

[M1FredQ]

After each application I wiped the Break Free Collectors oil off.
It has been over a couple of weeks and no change to the plastic except it
looks like new with a nice sheen to it. The moving parts -gears and wheels run very quiet and smooth.
I will not use the Break Free Cleaner on the plastic with any lettering as it might react with it.
But the Break Free Collector is a preservative oil. The railcars really look good.
That Hudson looks really good compared to when I took it out of the box.

Now I need to know how to clean the mold off the Lionel boxes. Someone told me the original boxes have collector value.

[phillyreading]

Try a dry cloth first on the boxes, as any dis-coloring takes down the value on boxes. Another thing is to add just a couple of small drops of water to a soft cleaning rag, then lightly go over the mold area, but be careful not to wet the box directly.
Any re-painting hurts the collectors value, even on boxes.

Lee F.

[DominicMazoch]

Take the moldy stuff outside in direct sun FOR A FEW MINS!  The UV radiation will kill mold and spores.

[M1FredQ]

Thank You
Today happens to be a very sunny day I'll put the boxes in the sun-room.
Fortunately there is no mold smell.
It is really fun watching all this stuff come "alive" again after all these years.
I am grateful my son kept bugging me to pull them out and run them

[M1FredQ]

The boxes look pretty good now. I had them out in the Sun for awhile then I gently ran a
barely moistened sponge with a little Dawn liquid soap. The mold came right off!!!!!!!!!
There is no mold smell what so ever on those boxes.
In Classic Toy Trains magazine there is a place that sells new replacement Lionel boxes.
I plan to buy those and put into storage my originals for safe keeping.

Using the Collector Grade Break Free which has NO solvents has made the rolling stock and the old
Hudson look like new!!! I used it to lubricate the metal moving parts and the gears on the engines and they run quiet and smooth!!!!!!!!

The patina color that developed on the tin plate track looks very realistic. For our main line on our layout we will go
with the Lionel Fas-Track BUT for our rail-yard we will use the old tin-plate as well as for the dead end lines.
I saw where you can buy extra black metal "ties" to add to the tin-plate to make it look a little more realistic.

[phillyreading]

Fred,

3R Plastics makes the extra add in ties, they come in black or brown for 027 and black for O gauge.

Lee F.

[M1FredQ]

Thanks Lee

Does #R Plastics have a web-site???

[M1FredQ]

With my son and I running trains fairly regularly. I was experimenting with different lubricants.

Thus far the best I have found was in my gun cleaning supplies it is "Break-Free" COLLECTOR GRADE.

Don't use the Cleaner unless you are cleaning the wheels or tracks. The COLLECTOR is pure lubricant and the

engines and stock roll beautifully. My Dad's 1951 Hudson and a 1960's Tie-Ejector run really smooth and quieter.

I have been lubbing the Williams engines we recently purchased in the last year and they run nicely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[M1FredQ]

Just opened the boxes from Trainworld where we ordered Williams
Engines and rolling stock.

The NYC Caboose right out of the box we put it on the track.

Shame on us we should have lubricated it first because it had a squeak.

We lubed it with the Break Free Collectors and once we hooked it up

NO squeak!!!!!

While reading a book my son picked up from the library on the PRR 1940's-1960's

there in living colour Atlantic Coast Line, PRR and a whole host of other Lines in

Chicago dropping off passengers. Very impressive!!!!! It almost doesn't matter which

lines you collect if you are from the Midwest as most seemed to make their way in the

area.