Track Cleaning.

[Desertdweller]

"The HO Model Railroad that Grows" was a wonderful concept.  I remember that book: I would study it and wish I had the room to build it.

Another choice book from that era was "101 Track Plans".  That was even better: it had every size railroad from the very most basic to the very complex.  I loved the names given the railroads:  the simplest was, appropriately, the "Stockton and Darlington".  Others I recall were the "Long Guyland Railroad", and the Snaxsys and Phrax".

There was a track plan from MR back then that inspired me for my present model railroad.  It was called "Class One for One Man".

I got a plan from the old "Railroad Modeler" magazine that was the basis for a railroad that lasted me from 1979 to 2007:  "The Winter Park Regional Railroad" by David Winter.  If you are reading this, David, many thanks!

I never had a problem with mold growing on my Lionel railroad with the coffee ground ballast.  It would have been realistic in a sense:  I remember running trains on trackage where the ties were hidden in the grass.  And on some sidings where the rails were hidden, too.

If the mold would sprout some stalks, it might create a demand for operating weed mowers!

It was a hallmark of the 1950's to have the operators removed from the vicinity of the trains, with huge complex control panels inspired as much by science fiction as by CTC boards.  I remember operating as a guest on the big HO railroad located in the old Fred Harvey Lunchroom of the Colorado Springs Santa Fe station.  This room held a huge, U-shaped lunch counter that became the support for an enormous model railroad.  Both standard and narrow gauge, and it had one of those giant mountains with multiple tunnels.
The operators stood on a raised dais at the rear of the layout, with multiple control stations.  Block wiring was used with big rotary switches.  It was pretty impressive, and fun to run.

The "Good Control Panel", while incomprehensible, was intreging.  It did look good.  The problem with this sort of thing was that, if you had a lot of tracks and switches, the control panel could rival the size of the layout.  And the electrical switches involved generally where hard to find unless one lived in a city with a supply house for low-voltage electrical components.  I suppose, in the 1950's, there would be a lot of war-surplus switches available if you knew what to ask for.

What I have a hard time understanding was that there was a universally available and affordable source of the needed switch controls and block switches.  Atlas has been making these since the fourth century BC.
They are designed to be ganged together to provide switch operation and block selection in a compact area.
The magazines certainly are not abashed about featuring their advertisers' products these days, but these products were not usually referred to by name "back in the day".  Fortunately, Atlas also was a publisher of these type of books, and showed how to use their electrical components in the layouts described.

My present model railroad uses Atlas electrical switches, except for the E-Z Track switch controllers, which are Bachmann.  They are absolutely dependable.  My power system is regular DC.  While I did have a lot of Atlas Selectors (DPDT switches) to buy, and a lot of wires to run, neither are expensive.  The resulting system is easy to understand and troubleshoot, durable, and I don't have to buy or retrofit my locomotives for DCC operation.

I'm happy to see "Black Bart" is still available, and, now being made of matte board, probably a lot more of the kits are actually being built.

I know this reply has nothing to do with track cleaning, but that's how it goes.

Les

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Hey Jeff - Yep, my dad, and I, built the Great Northern Pacific (a.k.a. "The HO Model Railroad that Grows") in the late 1950s. We faithfully followed the book - although we didn't start at the beginning and then gradually work to the finished product...rather we started much later in the process. Before cars (and girls) entered the scene, we had built most of the folding yard as well.

The GNP was a wonderful layout to start - and dad and I had many hours of enjoyable operation (well, as enjoyable as it was with poorly running locomotives and less-than-perfect rolling stock).

I'll bet that was a wonderful thing for you and your dad to do together. 

I would love to see Model Railroader's staff either: 1) remake the old original layout or 2) update the original layout with newer scenic techniques [such as a scenic divider etc.].

Now, there's an interesting idea. I'd like to see that, too. I bet it would make for a fun article, rebuilding a "classic" from the early days of HO with modern scenery techniques and DCC.

Are you listening Model Railroader staff? 

I can't tell you how many times I reread that book each year.

Tell you what, it's kind of a relief to know that I'm not the only one who does that! 

[CNE Runner]

Desertdweller - What a well worded post you provided. I remember my dad spending hours wiring the 'yard section' of the "HO Model Railroad that Grows". I believe he was able to procure SPDT switches at a surplus supply house in Poughkeepsie, NY (the 'big city' near where we lived).

The Monks' Island Railway runs DC and is broken into several blocks. It would be an easy matter to convert it to DCC (put all the block switches in either the "A" or "B" position and substitute my MRC Prodigy Advanced control unit for the DC handheld throttles). For the foreseeable future, I choose to stay with DC.

Jeff - Kudos to you! What a fabulous idea for Model Railroader magazine to [once a year?] have a series of construction/updating articles for some of the popular layout designs of the late 1950s through the 1970s. [Why Kalmbach could come out with yet another book to sell.] My only concern with the "HO Model Railroad..." is its spaghetti bowl track design. It was the style (then) to 'squeeze' as much trackage into a design as possible...although with a scenic divider that may not be as apparent as the original.

As a confession, I must tell you all that I seriously considered building the "Ho Model Railroad..." before the Monks' Island Railway. Carl Arendt's [and others] genius got to me first and I went in another direction (mini layout). I do have to admit that there is a certain lure to the Great Northern Pacific Railroad...'trying to recapture my youth?

Regards,
Ray

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Jeff - Kudos to you! What a fabulous idea for Model Railroader magazine to [once a year?] have a series of construction/updating articles for some of the popular layout designs of the late 1950s through the 1970s. [Why Kalmbach could come out with yet another book to sell.] My only concern with the "HO Model Railroad..." is its spaghetti bowl track design. It was the style (then) to 'squeeze' as much trackage into a design as possible...although with a scenic divider that may not be as apparent as the original.

Why, thank you, Ray! Maybe I should write/e-mail the MR people with that suggestion. I think your expansion of my thought to maybe a whole series (and eventual book) of "updated classics" is a great idea!

You know, I have the same thought as you do about the "spaghetti bowl" of trackage when I look at the pictures of the "late stages" of that plan. Personally I find the earlier stages, with more scenery/more town and less trackage, to be a more attractive layout. I think too much trackage in a small space only emphasizes the small size of a small layout.

As a confession, I must tell you all that I seriously considered building the "Ho Model Railroad..." before the Monks' Island Railway. Carl Arendt's [and others] genius got to me first and I went in another direction (mini layout). I do have to admit that there is a certain lure to the Great Northern Pacific Railroad...'trying to recapture my youth?

Regards,
Ray

You bet there is! And I think I'm trying to recapture my youth every time I crack the throttle on one of my locomotives! 

And why the current scenery on my present layout is mostly Plasticville buildings, some of which date to at least the Christmas of 1958 (my first!), when my mother and father used them for a "Christmas Village" that lacked a model train.

Jeff

[Jim Banner]

What is this "recapture my youth" stuff?  I started my first childhood almost 70 years ago and am still enjoying it.

When asked how I ever got into model railroading, my usual answer is that in my generation, many little boys got train sets for Christmas.  The only difference was that they grew up.

Jim

[Rangerover1944]

Jim Banner we were lucky, we got to see Steam loco's in everyday use before diesel loco's. Funny I'm still fascinated by those huge monsters I gotta say my whole life too at 68. I know by the sound when they come in the yard here in Elkins, haven't heard or seen any in quite some time. Since last fall I guess! I live a mile away from the yard. Jim

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

What is this "recapture my youth" stuff?  I started my first childhood almost 70 years ago and am still enjoying it.

When asked how I ever got into model railroading, my usual answer is that in my generation, many little boys got train sets for Christmas.  The only difference was that they grew up.

Jim

I do hear tell that growing older is mandatory but growing up is optional. 

Jeff

[Jim Banner]

I do hear tell that growing older is mandatory but growing up is optional.  
Jeff

Jeff, I hope you don't mind but I just stole that for my signature line.

Jim

[Desertdweller]

Can I hop back in here?
I'm just a young feller at 63.

Got a Lionel 0-27 set in 1953, but started in HO in 1968.  N-scale in 1978.

This morning I heard a commercial on the radio for something-or-other that was touting the joys of being retired.  Some poor soul was bragging that he had so many things to worry about when he was working, but now that he is retired, his mind is perfectly blank when he wakes up.  That won't be me.  I've been retired for a year now, and have more stuff going on than when I was working.

I don't have anything more to say about track cleaning right now.

Maybe we should start an "Old Timers Reminiscing" thread?

Les

[CNE Runner]

Hey all...I don't want this wonderful discussion to end. We have, however, hijacked the original intent of the original poster. With that in mind, I have started a reminiscing thread on the General Discussion board. I started with a post...how about joining in?

Ray

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I do hear tell that growing older is mandatory but growing up is optional.  
Jeff

Jeff, I hope you don't mind but I just stole that for my signature line.

Jim

  You're quite welcome to it. I do believe it's in the public domain. 

Jeff

[railandsail]

Col
First a little chemistry: The black deposit on the top of the rails is nickel oxide (III). Recent studies have shown that this 'deposit' is comprised of a mixture of nickel oxide, dust, and other contaminants. Oddly, under microscopic observation, the 'deposit' is arranged in 'dots' or 'spots' and is not continuous. The current prevailing theory is that small amounts of 'dirt', on the locomotive wheels, causes arcing between the wheel and the rail surface (the 'dirt' effectively 'picks up' the wheel allowing it to lose contact momentarily with the rail surface) - speeding up the process of corrosion.

Interesting, I always thought that crud that built up on the rails, on the loco wheels, and on the rolling stock was 'disolved plastic material' from those cars running plasitic wheels....plastic abrasion against metal rails, helped along by a slight disolving action by all those different 'track cleaning solvents' we are being sold.

As I read a few other forums in addtion to this one, it does appear to be a rail oxidation problem, and applying something to help with this oxidation seems very worthwhile.

I was just this morning looking back thru some older mag articles and took note of this one pager titled "Polish those Railheads".

Decided to see if I could google it and see what else was out there. I ran across this discussion on this forum;
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/212742.aspx?sort=ASC&pi314=1

[sd24b]

G'Day all. This time I am looking for a little help regarding cleaning of my HO track. At the moment I am building my layout, and laying tracks. In some areas, I have to lean across, and place my arms on some of the track. After a few days, my nickle silver track became very dull and grimy. I used one of those Peco tracking rubbers to clean the track of all the grime. The track came up nice and shiny, but I was astonished at the amount of grit that was in between the tracks. I took a length of flexi track, placed it on the bare layout table, and cleaned the rails with my Peco Track Cleaning Rubber. After cleaning this section of track, I tipped it on its side and tapped it on the table. I was shocked at the amount of shiny grit that was on the table from the rubber. I have decided to only use the rubber to remove spills of paint, glue, etc., that has fallen on the track. Any help with cleaning my track is much appreciated. I have purchased a bottle of Model Power, Track Cleaner, and a bottle of Rail-Zip. Both of these bottles have no instructions on how to use these liquids on my track. Can anyone help. I want something that I can wet a cloth with, and then rub the tracks to get off the grime on the rails. Any help would be much appreciated. Regards. Col.

my layout is currently under renovation .  However, I converted to metal wheels 22 years ago and most of my electrical continueity vanished.  I use a brite boy on my turnouts or areas whene I notice my headlights flickering.  Rail Zip on my engines with brass wheels  and that is about it.  Phil