Track cleaning

[DougInCal]

A number of years ago I purchased a couple of train sets, non-DCC.  I used trestles to create two ovals running around my coffee table.

I found that I had to wipe down the tracks on a regular basis to keep the trains from stalling.  Actually, it became annoyingly too often.

Is this typical?  Is there a way to delay the cleaning?

The guys at the shop (now out of business) were not helpful at all.

Tia.

[dasBM2-6-0]

Brass track is NOTORIOUS for getting grungy FAST!! Most have moved on to nickel-silver track, which is MUCH more resistant to tarnish and dirt build-up....
Steel track isn't much better than brass as far as cleaning regimen...
If you're forced to stay with brass or steel track....be prepared to apply some "elbow grease" often!!:(

May your freight ALWAYS roll smoothly...and ON TIME!!

[Len]

Brass track is NOTORIOUS for getting grungy FAST!! Most have moved on to nickel-silver track, which is MUCH more resistant to tarnish and dirt build-up....

Which is the main reason HO brass track hasn't been manufactured in over 20 years. 

Len

[jbrock27]

You don't say whether your track is brass or not, but after you have cleaned the track with denatured alcohol, or a track cleaning block that is not abrasive, you can try putting a couple of drops of Wahl Clipper oil on the rails in just a couple of spread out locations.  Then run the train around the track and this will distribute it evenly.  Only downside might be due to your set up-with a lot of the track elevated, it may cause some wheel slip in the loco.  If that becomes the case to your dissatisfaction, what I would do is apply the oil, run the loco by itself to distribute the oil around the track, then wipe the oil off the track.  If I can believe what I have been told about brass being a more porous metal, then the little bit of oil should help forestall the power robbing oxidation that occurs in brass.  If your track is steel, I think this approach would work as well for it.

[ebtnut]

Brass really isn't any more porous than nickle silver.  However, it does oxidize faster than nickle silver and the oxide is a poor conductor.  Nickle silver oxidizes slower and the oxide is a better electrical conductor.  The other thing to ask is where the track is located - is it in an are prone to dust, which will settle on the rails and impede contact no matter the metal material.  The other thing to do is make sure your wheels are clean.  Plastic wheels in particular can pick up dirt by static electricity and spread it around the layout as well.  If there is excessive dirt build-up, you may need to use a small jeweler's screwdriver to scrape the crud off.

[jward]

do you or anybody in the house smoke? if you can keep smokers away from the railroad, it will lessen track cleaning quite a bit.

[jbrock27]

Brass really isn't any more porous than nickle silver. 

Make sure you let Len know that eb, he's who I first heard/saw state that it was.

I would not use something that can makes scratches like a screwdriver, to clean wheels.  I would use a rag and either denatured alcohol, the paper towel trick sprayed with WD40 (or PB blaster) on the rails or if you are really ambitious, polish the wheels with a rag and Mother's Metal Polish.
Agree completely about plastic wheels creating more need for rail cleanup.

[Len]

Before I switched to electronics, I was on the Mechanical Engineering track in college. Which included classes in metalurgy, and included a section on the porosity and permeability of different metals. Porosity is a measure of how much of a metal is open space, whether between the grains or within cracks or cavities, of the metal. Permeability is a measure of the ease with which a fluid can move through a porous metal. One of the first examples of a porous metal we looked under the microscope was brass, which is also more permeable than many other metals. That's why unprotected brass oxidizes and turns green faster than most common steels left in the same enviroment.

Even though it's primarily made of copper, the nickel and zinc content of 'nickle silver' alloy make it less porous and permeable than brass. It also creates and oxider during corrosion that is conductive, unlike brass. So there are less electrical continuity issues with nickel silver rail.

Len

[ACY]

Which is the main reason HO brass track hasn't been manufactured in over 20 years. 
Len

Len, actually Model Power still made brass and steel track until a couple years ago, of course they went broke, if there is any correlation between the two I am not sure if it sold very well or not.

[Len]

Part of me wonders if they were still making it, or still trying to unload what was sitting in the warehouse unsold for years.

Len

[ACY]

Part of me wonders if they were still making it, or still trying to unload what was sitting in the warehouse unsold for years.

They were still making it, although they only made a couple standard lengths of straights (full & 1/3 length) , 18" radius curves, a terminal re-railer, and a manual 18"radius curved turnout.
They discontinued them around 2012 but they were still available until when they changed ownership and sold it all off for cheap.

[DougInCal]

Thanks for the quick responses.

The trains sets that I purchased were Walthers "Trainline", and the packaging info says that it uses Bachmann E-Z Track nickel-silver tracks.  I just unpacked these sets that I haven't seen in possibly six years(or more!) and realized the amount of extra rolling stock that I had purchased, including a diesel locomotive (Santa Fe), and a bunch of extra track.

Someone asked where the track was located.  I had it on the floor (carpeted) going around my coffee table.  Just to be clear, the track cleaning had to be done on a daily basis, or more often.  Subsequent to my first post, I continued digging through the message board and saw that denatured or isopropyl (sp?) alcohol seemed to be best for cleaning the tracks.

Len, I always felt that the "black crude" was not really dirt, as much as it was the residue of the electricity passing between two (possibly) different metal types.  I don't know the correct terms to use, but it seems to me to be ablative material.  How do you feel about that idea?

[jbrock27]

How about that, the track is not brass.

What color is the roadbed of the track Doug?  To Mr. Ward's question, does your house have smokers?
Denatured is better than Iso.  The Iso can leave a film.
Are all or the majority of the wheels on the rolling stock that you have been running, plastic?
There is a plethora of theories on what the rail "gunk" is.  Regardless, I have found the Wahl oil helps to clean it off and keep it off, even nickel silver track.

PS-For running near a carpet, you have to watch for fibers getting into the wheels of the loco(s).