Atlas O Center Rail

Why do you want to "re-blacken" the center rail? I had to go to great lengths to REMOVE the "factory blackening" on all my Atlas O track, in order to get proper electric contact for MTH DCS and Lionel TMCC/Legacy operation.

Hot Water is right; the top surface of the 3rd rail should be kept shiny.  Only GarGraves has really been able to offer their track with a blackened rail that not only holds up well but doesn't impair electrical continuity to the pickup rollers.  The type of chemical blackening they use is some sort of trade secret that the others haven't really been able to successfully replicate, at least as far as I know & understand it.

Leave the rails shiny! Much better conductivity and smoother running trains! I  removed all the "black" with very fine Scotchbrite pad & windex. I found you need to keep center rail smooth for best collector performance. Also one can use a more coarse Scotchbrite to roughen the running rails on grades for additional traction. I've tested this and it works! Enjoy. Cliff

Hotwater, John Korling and Clifford:

Thanks very much, guys. It's unanimous. I'll leave them shiny for better electrical continuity!

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

I have an Atlas layout that I built with a mix of used and new sections.  I can say I've had issues with Legacy control that appeared to be associated with dirty track.  I cleaned the track (all rails) and it worked fine.  On the older track, I simply ran a black magic marker on the middle rail and it runs fine.  Just my experience.  I like the blackened look.

woojr:

   Thanks for that information. I, too, have a mix of new and used Atlas O and I may consider taking your advice at least on some of the older pieces to see if there is a difference.

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

I have used Neolube to re-blacken my center rails or engine drivers etc. It is conductive so that there isn't an issue with using it.

http://www.micromark.com/neolube-2-fl-oz,8383.html

CSX Al:

      Thank you! I'll give that a try, too.

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

I do recall reading at some point here on the forums that someone had to make an extended frog "shelf" for their Atlas switches so that the short roller base of their locomotives would cause the locomotive to go dead.  They used gun bluing to darken it to match their center rails.

Was told by an Electrical Engineer that there is such a thing a conductive paint & why wouldn't Atlas know that. Not sure if that is true or not, but I took most of the black paint off also. Using the steel track.

The others that posted about removing the blackening are much more experienced than I am and probably have larger layouts, but I have had no problems with the blackened rails on the Atlas-O track using DCS. Just my personal experience. I am still waiting on my Legacy system that I ordered last fall, so have no experience with that. Also I personally like the look of the blackened center rail.

All of the track I am using is new within the last couple years, don't know if that's a factor or not? Maybe they have changed the blackening process? I did recently purchase some used track, some of it had the blackening removed from the center rail. Think I will try some of the Neolube posted by CSX AL and see how that works to re-blacken the used pieces. Looks pretty good from the photo he posted.

As an additional thought, I always try to read any threads about Atlas-O track as that's what I'm using and I am still learning.  It seems that some have good results with the black rails and some don't.  Don't know what is happening there either?  I guess some like it and some don't as well.

Where do you buy the Neo Lube?

There is a link in CSX AL's post above.

Sinclair, LIONEL, rtr12, John C.

Guys:

     Thanks for all the help. Looks like I have lots of options!

     (What a Great forum!)

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

Great information and reminders guys!

Alan