Some of you guys know from my previous posts that I'm not exactly, ah, ACCURATE, with my smoke fluid. I have a tendency to try to add fluid as the engine is going by. LOL The result is some pretty spectacular spills, even though I have started slowing the engines down. I also have some spitting that happens when I over fill. (Yes, as you get older, you forget how much you added from the last run, and add even MORE!)
Normally I just go and sop up the mess with a q-tip or rag or whatever. It did OK, but I was never able to get all of it, and sometimes it was like I was just pushing the stuff around the shell. After a long run last night, I had the usual wet shell, so I decided to try something new. Mega-Steam b-Gone Cleaner. I tested it on one of my Legacy Berkshires that had spit up a bit of MS Hot Chocolate. (I hate it when I waste that stuff, because I run it all winter! LOL)
I shook up the bottle and opened it... It was a little foamy. Then I took a little and wetted my finger with it. Rubbing my fingers together I checked for lubricity and tried to gauge the corrosive properties (an old habit from my Certified Mechanic days.) Hmmmm. Well, it didn't burn, and I found it to be mild, with soft water type surface tension. Pleasant "hint" of an odor as well. I was still pretty apprehensive about trying it, (these are my Legacy Berks!) so I tried a dab under the cab roof. No paint loss. 
I sprayed some on some blue, disposable shop cloth. This is like a paper towel, but gentler and more robust (no lint). They are blue, and come in rolls at any auto parts store. Anyway, I sprayed b-Gone onto the shop cloth, using several pumps to wet an area about a silver dollar size.
Then I gently applied the cloth to the affected areas around the stack of the Berk. It worked very well! These cloths are thick enough to use on engine shells and thin enough to get a folded corner onto the hard to reach areas. The top is now spatter free and looks like new.
Sooooo, I tried taking it a step further. I'll be straight with you guys: I am a clumsy axle oiler. My hobby shop does not carry needle type dispensers, so I have to use the oil tube itself. This results in slightly too much oil on the axles and sometimes I get some on my hands. Well, apparently I had some on my hands when I last oiled up this Berk, because the tender had an OIL sheen on the sides that looked surprisingly like a few of my fat fingers. 
I was concerned because the oil was over the painted letters, and had been there for about 2 days without me noticing!
So I sprayed some more b-Gone on the shop cloth, and gently wiped the area. I noticed it took a few moments to dry.
The result was the complete removal of the oil spots with no damage to the paint or lettering. It looks like it just came out of the box from Lionel!
Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know I have tried it and it does what it says without hurting the engine finish. I hope you guys find this test helpful. I know for a fact I'm going to eventually need more! LOL
