I finally have had some time to restore some Super O track that I purchased at a great deal due to rust.
The photos are explanatory of the process used.
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I have used Evapo-Rust on tube track, to good effect. I am going to use it on My Super-O next.
Great suggestion! Great Pix! Thanks as I have some Super-0 that could use some cleaning.
I have used Scotchbrite pads and they seem to get rid of oxidation and shine the rails very nicely. I would then also use some Pledge on the ties to restore the luster.
Interesting. I've heard about Evapo-Rust, but didn't know how well it worked. Thanks for posting.
I haven't looked at the pics yet, but here's what I know.
Evaporust takes time and mild agitation to work best. Go back and scrub every 15min on deep scale rust.
But is good stuff, even safe on some paints and inks. But if left to soak many hours, can creep between paint and metal, lifting the paint.
Its a mild acid that won't burn skin; a citric acid. So pull pins, and rinse the tube part well inside if you dunk it, dry inner tube thoroughly with shaking and forced air , maybe a hairdryer, etc.
Water is only bad on metal if not dried quickly. Adding oil (like whals clipper oil or 30w) and setting upright to drip off overnight will add a film of protection inside. Wipe the outer rail surface well after that too. Let it sit again so oil can migrate low with gravity.
I've used it on Super O, O, O-27 and tin plate cars with great success.
Faster, and more powerful would be muriatic acid, not as safe, but also effective.
Pre rinsing either with a baking soda solution not a bad idea either.
Cleaning the rails with Scotchbrite pads is a good idea if you are using one of the finer pads. The mistake many of my fellow large scalers do is to clean their track with corse material. Some even use fine sandpaper. The problem with using anything abrasive is that it scratches the rail surface. These scratches are not visible to the naked eye, unless you have perfect vision.
What you really want to do is polish the railheads. Not with a liquid obviously, but with an eraser. The smaller scales use something known as write-Boy I believe. LGB makes a hand held version of this but much larger. I have found that it cleans the surface and puts a shine on it without scratching the railhead.
Lionel's track cleaner from post war production is really the best thing to use, or some version of it.
