Clearing Spots of Poor Rail Conductivity:

HELLO,

I've been informed by the Yardmaster that I have a "like" regarding my topic!

This is a welcome surprise...somebody out there likes me!

Cheers,

Bad Order Hal

Probably NSA posted the "like", they just voted to extend their incursion into our privacy.

Maybe Bob2 could touch on this, when at the San Diego 2 rail club I noticed the train had two cars dragging a piece of masonite in the continually running display train.

The approach at the S.D. three rail layout was the use of a dry wall sanding head on a long pole which is used to rub a very fine abrasive cloth down the right of way.

On Ed R's RR I am sure he just smiles at us needing to slean our tracks.  Wise ol' man there!

Sanding the rail head encourages oxidation to return. Instead just wipe the railheads occasionally with rubbing alcohol. But there are numerous methods and remedies for this maintenance chore.

The masonite car that Tom refers to is a Pat Gary creation.  Pat is long gone, but his creations go way back.  The museum inherited all his rolling stock.

I have little tolerance for dirty track, so I take a piece of 400 wet-or-dry, put a drop of very light oil on it, and burnish the rail tops before a test session.  The wheels are the real problem, and I have discovered that if they are all machined steel, they stay relatively clean.  Die cast and brass wheels seem to get a layer of crud that can get big enough to cause derailments.

HEY FLANGER,

I guess I'll use C2 H6 O  from now on.

Thanks for the tip...

Bad Order Hal

You're going to use ethanol instead of rubbing alcohol - isopropyl alcohol = C3H8O??  which generally has a percentage of water in it.....

You can buy 91% Isopropyl which is pretty strong. Most commercial alcohol is 70% so you have to look at the label. It's also an excellent thinner for Tamiya acrylic paints at about 1/10th the price. Once all this plastering mess is done on my RR I'm going to have to really clean the tracks. It's good to know about the sanding and accelerated corrosion. I will stay away from this technique!

The last time I bought 91% isopropyl alcohol, the store was out and ordered it.  When I went in to pick it up, the clerk asked me "what kind of electronics I was going to clean?".  Seems that is its major use.  On the DSMR, we found that by wiping down the track first with Goo Gone, followed by wiping down with 91% isopropyl alcohol worked well.  We kept one or two of the Masonite cars running around the layout as well.

ChipR

I use isopropyl on my track, it works great and goes very quickly. 

You might find that cleaning wheels and  third rail contact pick-up will also increase conductivity.  I have a Atlas RS-1 that was a constant problem until I cleaned the wheels of accumulated gunk acquired from the rails.  Most foreign material appears to be traction tire residue. 

CH3(OH) Methanol

C2H5(OH) Ethanol 

C3H7(OH) Propanol

(CH3)2CH(OH)  Isopropyl alcohol.  

Ethanol may be made non-potable with a dilution of Methanol CH3(OH) also called wood alcohol. ?I Think?. My understanding of the stuff in the unit train tank cars is that this alcohol has gasoline diluted in it to make it non-potable.

????  All three should be water soluble ???? 

Note that all alcohols will cause death or impairment, Ethanol at a some what slower rate. IMO  

Please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Mike CT 

HEY MIKE,

Looks like Isopropyl is what I'll use, from majority consensus.

Incidentally, I don't have 3-rail...I have 2-rail track.

Bad Order Hal

Beware.  The electronics grade 99%+ alchohol works like a champ but will damage the paint on some models if you happen to get a little sloppy with it as I did --ONE TIME.  I get mine at Fry's.  And I keep the 70% around, too. 

Anything abrasive that can cause tiny micro-grooves which can fill up with gunk will work against you over time.

This topic comes around often.

I have had very good results with odorless paint thinner.  But, others have stated that using odorless paint thinner results in some sort of buildup.  I have not found this to be the case on my track.

Lotsa ways to skin this cat.  One of the best known O scale guys in the Bay Area uses very light oil on his track.  Says it improves conductivity and reduces pitting from sparks.  But, his layout is steel rail and he runs heavy engines on very light grades.