Is fastrack dishwasher safe?

You have a nice layout but I don't think I'll stay for supper, Thanks anyway.

Now beginning to wander if a couple of cycles through the dish washer wouldn't make my 2426W whistle sound better ????   YOY !

That'll warp your whistle!

I've been having a down day for whatever reason. I know Eric was asking an honest question, but a few of the replies absolutely MADE MY DAY.

 

I'm not a cat hater, but that one made me laugh.

 

Simple Green... a good one!

 

Rob's comment "Lee, you need the enzymes in the detergent to remove the cat puke" mad me howl.

 

Then the nice layout, but passing on the dinner invite and then tossing the whistle tender into the dishwasher... those are great.

 

Thanks guys. The laughs those comments gave me really made my day... seriously! First laugh of the day and a very good one at that. Lifted my troubles off my soul.

 

 

The only responses i do t understand are discard the track. Do you throw away boots, if you step in.....? Personally id hand wash a few pieces. It takes less time, than postinf the question and reading the answers. If it doesnt come clean, its time for kitty litter ballast.

This is silly. I can't believe anyone would even take the time out to analyze a dishwasher and washing track. You have two options for a $5.00 section of track. First is to try and clean it which is a simple dish soap and a little scrubbing or toss the track and buy a new section.

 

If you want to toss it in the dishwasher go ahead if it works fine if not then again buy another section of track. Your track is one of the most important connections on the flow of electricity why take short cuts.

 

I'm betting a simple hand washing takes care of the problem and problem is solved with out a lot of theory and thought.

Well, which is SILLIER, the person trying to save $5.00, or the person who takes the time to  complain about a thread being silly for FREE?

 

Doug

I agree that this is a crazy "what if?" thread but I have enjoyed it thoroughly. I recently had 2 Fastrack switches and 4 straights loose connectivity for no reason during a show. Replaced them and moved on but I still have to look at them.....at least I won't have to throw them in the dishwasher....

Apparently you haven't taken the time to view Erics videos demonstrating some of the latest and greatest scale o guage offerings on a substantial layout.

 

It would seem $5.00 isn't going to "break the bank" for Eric, with all due respect to him and more power to him as well.

 

Nope, I haven't taken the time to watch Eric's videos, He probably does have a Wonderful layout, and 5 bucks probably wouldn't break his bank either. But I fail to see how that would make him any less silly to complain about a thread where he has no financial incentive, than the OP, who is trying to salvage a piece of track.

 

Besides some of the replies have been interesting and/or Humorus to some of us.

 

Doug

 

Obviously a lot of you guys do not know how to use a dishwasher? 
Or ruined enough stuff to know what works when.

LOL.
As a single dad with two young in,
I have lots of experience doing both.
You can turn the dry cycle off.
Most have a single element like an electric stove.
If something falls down to bottom or is to close.
Usually plastic on the bottom rack, it will melt or deform.

Wash the way that I do rolling stock.
In sink with warm water, dish soap and soft restive brush.
If you want, put in dishwasher on Rinse only or Sani-rinse.
Take out. Pour isopropyl ( either 92 or the weaker stuff down the rails.
Blow out the rails with compressed air. Around 40-60psi  with a needle nozzle.
If you are still worried, spray a little WD-40 with the red tube down inside of the rails.
Wipe with a paper tower.
Let dry in warm house overnight.
Meanwhile, grab a beer and work on something else.
lOL.

I believe Lee has done that.

I went looking for the piece of track that the cat puke ruined.  I must have tossed the U channel rails because they were so corroded  from the cat puke that no amount of cleaning was going to fix this.  I did keep the plastic base (seemed like a good idea at the time).

 

I did not catch the cat puke when it first occurred.  It had a couple of days, possibly a week, to get under the rails and attach the underside.  When I tried to clean the track with alcohol I kept getting these brown stains where the rails met the plastic base.  The track didn't conduct electricity so I pulled it out of the Christmas layout and replaced it.  When I took it apart that's when I found out that almost half of the underside of the center and outside rails were badly rusted.  They were flaking/scaling.  The pitting at the bends of the U were enough to start making pin prick holes in the track.

Have you considered getting to the actual source of the problem and throwing away the cat?  Finally, I have found an advantage to my life-long hyper-allergy to cats!  

I can't believe this over $5.00 worth of track!!  Perhaps the Forum Gods will shine down on us and put this thread out of it's misery!!  ROFL!!

Erie Lackawanna, I have to say it is a quite unusual and funny thread. And with so many replies and ideas. And even tests that people are doing.

 

Kudos to the forum members, this thread indeed shows how willing and helpful everyone here is to help one another no matter how big or small the problem is.  

 

Apparently there are more than a few cats out there throwing up on train tracks for whatever reason....who'd a thunk.

My suggestion would be to give the piece of track to the cat owner and ask them to rectify the situation.     If cats didn't puke so much, they would be a lot more fun to have around.  

In my case it was a lot more than $5. 

 

It was about 25-30 pieces from an eBay purchase, and, well, they were kinda' grubby and were obviously from the home of a heavy smoker(no cat puke evident).  A trip through the Maytag with a good dose of Cascade made them pretty squeaky clean and odor free.  I did 1 first, and then the rest when that one came out nicely.

 

The detergent enzymes do need substrates to work on and to work properly - that part was no joke.  I had a few pots to run through with the track.

I just drill pilot holes in my car's roof and fasten the track to the roof then drive through the car wash. Done!

 

What's the dishwasher part for?  Just rinse it and use the wife's veggie brush. Just make sure she never knows!

 

Seriously..........I'll send you a new piece!

Time saving, detergent dispensation, thorough hydraulic pressure scrubbing, thorough rise cycles, time savings.

 

For just a few pieces, it's not worth using the machine if you have otherwise good water pressure.

ADCX Rob,

 

For your use that's fine. I'm just talking about one piece of cat puke track! LOL!

I'm sure there's merit to this method for multiple pieces, but just 1 piece wouldn't seem to be time saving.

 

Next topic.....old mth batteries, bring them back to life with a car battery and a pair of jumper cables!

For the love of God....just buy some new track!

1st step - rope off area with HAZMAT tape

 

2nd step - get government grant to study the effects of cat barf on o gauge track

 

3rd step - when grant $$$ hit bank account, buy gloves

 

4th step - reach down (wearing gloves) and pick that mess up

 

5th step - clean it off in the sink and dry (you can study/examine the track if needed to meet conditions of grant)

 

6th step - love thy cat (I have 2, the male hurls frequently, the female never)

 

 

I agree.

hey Eric just get a new piece of fast track. [lol]

Get some purple power or pine sol..just spray it on let it sit on it for a few mins then rinse it off..as for putting it in the dishwasher?? can do that...but what does your wife thinks about it..cat barf in the dishwasher...she might think we wont eat off of your dishes ever again..lol

I was thinking of doing something similar to a box of MTH RealTrax that had been in the garage for a while and the mice decided that it would make a good home... Might wait for spring and take a garden hose or pressure washer to the track and hand wash the switches. Sometimes bulk just wins out...

A word of caution - I once ran my post war 726 through the clothes washer and dryer. It runs better than ever, but it shrunk to the size of a 2034. 

I don't think it's dishwasher or microwave safe.

 

Jerry

Sad to say, I've cleaned my share of cat vomit off a number of things.  Frankly, if GooGone will clean the grease off my car engine (it does), it will readily get cat vomit off a piece of track.

 

Track cleaning in the O-gauge hobby makes Rube Goldberg look like an amateur!

The next thing you know is fellas' will start soaking die cast engine shells in laundry detergent & hot water to strip paint.  That's just nuts.

Tide??

So I guess now is not the time to say I'm doing exactly that to a diecast Brooklin '56 Pontiac so i can prepare it for my layout?

Did a cat puke on it?

This should come as a warning not to ballast track with cat litter!!

 

     Hoppy

Act-chully...my whistle is die-cast !   The non-self-destructing kind that Lionel used to specialize in for decades.  I suspect it will survive in the high temp/high humidity atmosphere of the trusty Kenmore.  Then again it all may come down to whether your machine has Nicholson Thermic Syphons or not !

Gentlemen,

   Did I actually read that somebody recommended throwing a piece of FasTrack away,

Eric is probably like me, we do not throw anything away, it's just not done.  Rebuild if necessary, re-engineer if required.  All that nasty 1st Generation FasTrack with mid Black Rail that some people believe is worthless, please box it up and send it to me,

I will even pay the shipping. 

PCRR/Dave

 

My grandfather (who also was a train nut, it's where I got it from) always said,

 

"Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Or do without."

 

To some of you, $5 doesn't seem like a lot, but for some of us that are living paycheck to paycheck, $5 is a meal for my family.  Knowing that I could throw it into the dishwasher with a load of dishes is great news.  Why waste my already limited train budget on track when the old track can be saved?  So many wasteful people in today's world.  I'm grateful that at least some here took this thread seriously enough to post helpful information.  Thanks to Eric for asking, and to Lee and Rob for answering with experience.

How many of you out there have had a floor layout and a new puppy? How did that go? Or should that be where did it go? All this cat clean up advice could come in handy...