Hi,
I was hoping to gauge the opinions of those here.
My layout is in my home basement, roughly located in the Mid-Atlantic area. I enjoy having the windows open during the nice weather months. The humidity levels outside can get pretty high!
I have a layout that uses old fashioned Lionel tinplate track. The track ranges in age. I think the oldest is about 3 years old and some is rather new. My trains range from Postwar Lionel from my childhood to new trains from Lionel and Mth and William trains.
I have a dehumidifier running in the basement. I have it set to the on setting. It runs non-stop regardless of humidity in the room. It does not reach a certain humidity level and shut off. I just read the screen on it and it shows 40% humidity. I've noticed very minor areas of rust in some track sections. When I say minor, some is near microscopic levels and the worst area is about 1/4 spot in size. The 1/4 inch spot is confined to one area of the track, in the center of a sectional piece. Otherwise the track shows no areas of rusting. I have also monitored areas over the past 6-9 months and have really seen no change in amount of rust or corrosion. I clean my track regularly using 91% alcohol although I may have used other levels in the past, depending on what I could get my hands on. I don't really run the trains that often, maybe once a week at the most. I have also noticed occasional streaks of orange on my track cleaning rag. One wipe and it is gone. I wish getting the black goo off the track was that simple LOL!
A few trains that I've had for the length of time I've lived in my home, about 15 years, show no rust or corrosion on them. I do remember cleaning the wheels and rollers of an engine with alcohol (iso) many years ago. That engine is die cast with die cast trucks and couplers, just like all of my trains. I noticed the next day the wheels and rollers were covered in rust. I cleaned that up and never had a similar issue again.
I like to think that if I had a serious rust problem, I would have very obvious signs of it on the trains, track and more and would not have 3 year old track with either no rust or extremely small spots. If it does have more rust on it, it is contained to one spot not the entire section of track. Some of the oldest track that is about 3 years old has no signs of rust. If a piece does, it is very, very minor. Almost impossible to see. I will not use alcohol anymore as based on my experience with cleaning that one engine, I have had rust from it.
Do the experts here think I'm overly worrying about rust damage to everything? I again like to think that if I had a serious rust problem, it would've been very obvious early after setting up my layout, not a few years down the road. Something I've thought, similar to the rust on the engine I mentioned, is maybe I used too much alcohol combined with a humid day and got some minor spotting? Plus, I'd think that I would see rust on the trains (die cast wheels and couplers and trucks) that have been here longer, some about 15 years, than I would on track. I guess since the alcohol has water in it that is my cause,,,,?
