I am going through a phase of rediscovering my old G scale stuff. The track was looking pretty rough after ~40 years. I took some of it and left it in a bath of vinegar and salt for a few minutes and then rinsed and scrubbed with soap to remove it all. it seemed like an easy way to improve its appearance quickly and then taking a little Brasso polish on the top of the rail to really clean up the contact surface. An example of what I did is below. There are some hints of pink on it in spots, but it looks much better to me.
before
after
I plan to use this track indoors still on the floor and want it to look nice. Is there a better way to clean the track than this?