Dirty Fastrack Centre Rail?

Mine does too.  I always assumed it was because of shedding oil from the trucks or the occasional overfilled/spilled smoke fluid which seems to drip down through there.

Most of the "dirt" is really the chemical reaction creating oxidation caused by the electricity passing from the track to the roller. No way around it if your gonna run your trains.

I've noticed its worse when running passenger cars, obviously caused by all of the added power pickups for the lights.

I'm guessing the larger flat area of the fastrack  shows dirt/ oxidation more easily than the very peak of the old  rounded tubular rail.

Rod,

 I have noticed this as well. On my early 'Living Room & Dining Room RR' Holiday layouts I used my dads old tubular O-27 track. When cleaning that track, the dirt seemed to be more equal on the rails.

 Like FlaglerSystem is saying may also apply. The earlier 'layouts' had my dads Lionel and Marx stuff running around with an occasional smoke pellet or a couple drops of smoke fluid for the Marx.

 This years layout saw a varity of locomotives placed on it. But, my Lionel Chessie Steam Special turned in the most track time (almost 40 hours) and I used the smoke fluid regularly.

 So, again, I think FlaglerSystem may be correct. It makes sense to me.

Keep in mind earler/ conventional locos don't have 18v passing through the track either.

I noticed mine has a greasy/slippery texture which was what got me thinking about the smoke fluid.  It wipes off easily...Sometimes ending up on my hands inadvertently when placing locos, etc.

Yeah, same here.  I see some have suggested smoke fluid as the source, but I get the same effect when I'm running diesels (none of which have smoke).

And BTW, FasTrack is tubular.  More of a U-shape than round, but it's not flat.

I cleaned my FasTrack every week, and the cleaning rag was almost always completely black after doing so. The only exceptions were if I ran post war locos. Then the rails were significantly cleaner for a longer period of time. Perhaps it was the lack of traction tires on those trains.

http://www.rjftrains.com/sales...rline/dirtytrack.htm

RickO,

 Good point about the 18V. But on the other hand, I have only been running my Holiday layouts conventional with a PW ZW.

Balshis,

 I think Rod was simply making a comparison between the traditional tubular track and the modern FasTrack tubular.

Jumijo,

 I see what you are saying. I remember the first year I had the FasTrack. I ran my then new D&H C-420 and WM Lionmaster Challenger and kind of remember that. But, Rod is speaking more about the center rail. I did notice it became dirtier sooner than the outside rails this year operating that CSS T-1.

I think everyone has "a piece of the puzzle" here. IMHO.

RickO,

 Thanks for that link. I just read it. GOOD Stuff there!

I am glad I usually use alcohol to clean the rails.

That is a good link, thanks!  I was just starting to wonder about the best way to clean the tracks myself.  Layout has been up a little less than a year.

Another reason that the rounded top of tubular might be less likely to get dirty so fast is the current vs. area of contact.  Many times, relays that carry a very low current will have more problems with dirty contacts than relays with higher current through the contacts.  This is simply because the higher currents tend to burn off the dirt and oxidation.  If you have a broader contact area, like for Fastrack, there is much lower current per square mm of contact surface.