Once More, with Feeling!

It's denatured alcohol for me. Once wet, once with a dry.

No oil. I have traction tires and no humidity issues.

Might want to read up on the MSD (MSDS) - interesting stuff, Goo-Gone......and which alcohol?

Mr. M.W.B.

The alcohol I've been using is SLX Denatured Alcohol from Walmart.

I'm trying to find that video about the man who uses ATF on his rails...if I find it, I'll link it.

BAD ORDER

I have a friend who uses Rail Zip on his large HO layout.  He never cleans the track.  The engines operates reliably using the DCC system.  He probably has about 1,000 feet of track.  

I clean the track on my home layout and on the G&O garden 3-rail layout using 91% Isopropyl alcohol from Walmart.   I use North East Trains track cleaning cars on both layouts.  These cars have cloth pads that I soak with the alcohol.  I use the least expensive NE Trains track cleaning cars.

Cleaning the track before running on the G&O is essential to get anything to run.  The track gets dirty overnight because it is outdoors.

Running a track cleaning train around the G&O several times does the job.  I put one cleaning car before the engine and a second behind it.  I use a Williams conventionally powered engine to run this train.  All the the pads on both cars are soaked in alcohol.  (The engine usually won't run if a cleaning car is not in front of it because the track is so dirty.  The cleaning pads are usually totally black after running them.  I wash the pads and reuse them.)

Joe

The HO boys in town swear by this stuff although I have yet to try it.  They say it puts a nice coating on which prevents dirt buildup.  Some have been using it for many years.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC...cant-02004/100398344

I have been using CRC 2-26 as a metal protectant for years. I don't know about using it to clean track.

HEY ERIC,

Thanks for the compliment!

If those were real granite and sandstone rocks, they would weigh between 100 and 500 pounds, depending on the size.

They weigh about 3 to 6 pounds, and are hollow.

They were bought at Home Depot, and are called "Valve Covers".  There are 9 on my layout.

BAD ORDER

Funny...nobody's mentioned WD-40 yet.

Bad Order

Electronic clearer, like CRC referenced above is what I have used.  If you wipe it on your track, you will not have to clean it...period.  Reapply every couple of years....yep, that is correct!!....( I know it is unbelievable but true!)...

Alan

I use 91% or better isopropyl alchohol. Its been the recommended cleaner for other "electronic" devices such as  audio/video tape heads, as well as cds and dvds for decades.

It lacks the noxious " automotive paint shop" type strength/ odor of denatured alchohol.

Alan,

Do you use 2-26 specifically?  I ask because the HO guys here say that too.  Two years between re-application.

OK ALAN, I'LL TRY CRC 2-26!

If it's that good, then everybody will eventually be using it to the exclusion of all other products, so then I can forget these:

BAD ORDER HARRY  [Besides...you're on the OGR staff, so what you say MUST be true!]

Hal

As previously posted I use Goo Gone to clean wheels and then run them dry on a clean paper towel.  I wouldn't use it on the rails out of concern that it might leave a residue that would mix with dust particles in the air.  My experience is if I run the trains weekly the rails stay clean.

Ed Rappe

bad order.. I forgot the with feeling...sooo

Pardon me, boy
Is that the Denatured Al-co-hol?
Track twenty-nine
Boy, you can see it shine
I can afford
To buy a can or two when needed
I've got my fare
And just a trifle to spare

We'll leave the Apple Valley Station 'bout a quarter to five,

Read a magazine and then we're in Riverside,

Dinner in the Crummy,

Sittin'with my Honey,

Doesn't make no difference 'cause she's got my money,

When I hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar,

Then I know that San Diego's not very far,

Shovel all the coal in,

Gotta keep 'er rollin,

Whoo-Whoo San Diego, here we are! 

[With apologies to Glenn Miller, Tex Beneke, and the Modernaires]

BAD ORDER

CRC makes many products. Here is CRC's description of 2-26:

quote:

Plastic safe lubricant, penetrant and corrosion inhibitor that helps prevent electrical malfunctions caused by water penetration, humidity, condensation or corrosion.  Restores resistance values and helps stop current leakage.

As I previously posted, I use CRC 2-26 as a metal protectant. I also have some of their spray electronic cleaner, which I only use on rare occasion.

HEY ALAN,

I bought a can of CRC 2-26 today, but before I apply it, I'll ask if it's better to spray it on the rails or to wipe it on with a cloth pad?  (There are some areas where I'll need to use that extension pole to reach the trackage.)

Thanks,

BAD ORDER HAL

There's gonna be...Denatured alky at the station,

Toss in my trunk.....smells like a drunk!!!!

We're gonna cry...until we all reach home,

the other riders banned us from the Superdome....

HEY ALAN,

Are you the same Alan who is the OGR Ad Sales Manager?

No...upon closer examination of your avatars, you are definitely not, but it sure seems like you're familiar with that 1940's swing hit "Chattanooga Choo-Choo"!

(The song mentions "Track 29"... so it sounds like there were at least 29 passenger tracks at New York's Pennsylvania Station! THAT would be something to model!)

Bad Order Harry

OK, I'LL ASK AGAIN:

HEY ALAN, OGR AD SALES MANAGER;

I bought a can of CRC 2-26 yesterday, and I'm asking you if its better to spray it on the rails or wipe it on with a cloth pad?

BAD ORDER

a

If you try to spray it on the rails, what is going to keep it off the ties, ballast, and surrounding areas?

Bad Order,

I really like the simplicity of your layout. It gives the feeling of wide open spaces and you can really enjoy the trains going by. While sipping a strong libation I hope.

Interesting question given the nature of the components of this stuff - petroleum distillates and other good stuff.  I'm still wondering how this works as an agent that cleans rail without leaving behind a film of the higher weight components like n-butyl stearate and the dimers of C18-unsatd. fatty acids.  And, I see nothing in the component lists that have anything to do with conductivity other than possibly to prevent a coating of oxidation from forming on the rail that's probably due to the residual n-butyl stearate and the dimers of C18-unsatd. fatty acids.

Maybe just rubbing down your rails with margarine would work just as well,

Hey BadOrder!

I'm not the sales rep Alan. Sorry about that!!!!!

HEY RON,

Aaaahh...another man who likes simplicty!

As for the libation, I drink the cheapest store-brand 80-proof Rum I can find, mixed with Crushed Ice and Coca-Cola...in fact, I just mixed one now!

When I'm running out, my wife will lease me a cocktail made with her superior Bacardi, but at other times...hands off!

Cheers,

BAD ORDER

M. W. B.

Are you a retired Chemistry Professor?

Bad Order

HEY C. W.

I'll tell you what's going to keep the 2-26 off the ties, ballast, and surrounding areas:  

NOTHING! 

I can slosh that stuff on with a floor mop and it ain't gonna hurt nuthin!

Here's why: 

My layout top is 1/2" OSB sub-roofing...so hard that I had to drill pilot holes just so the spikes wouldn't bend when I drove 'em in!

My plastic ties will not be harmed by the product, which states that on the can. 

I use no Ballast, no Foam or Cork roadbed, no Homasote, or any other of that "proper" NMRA-Approved stuff.

My rails are laid in a "true grit" environment, consisting of spiking the track to the OSB panels,  then positioning the Valve Covers for visual effect, then spreading Sand all over the layout, then spreading Pathway Rock (to simulate boulders), and finally spreading Gravel up to the ties.

No soft, rolling green meadows with cattle grazing on THIS railroad!

This is my "CALICO FREIGHT LINES" High Desert Railroad!

BAD ORDER

quote:

I can slosh that stuff on with a floor mop and it ain't gonna hurt nuthin!

Enjoy permeating your house with the vapors from the 2-26 carriers so you and your entire family can inhale them.

Here is CRC's product description, right from their web site:

quote:

Plastic safe lubricant, penetrant and corrosion inhibitor that helps prevent electrical malfunctions caused by water penetration, humidity, condensation or corrosion.  Restores resistance values and helps stop current leakage.

DEAR MR. C. W. BURFLE:

I hate to refute what you've stated, but my family will not be bothered by any vapors from the 2-26 because they live 2000 miles away from my residence.

Only my wife and I live in our High Desert home, and my railroad is in a seperate building behind the house!

Any other cautions?

BAD ORDER HAROLD

(It amuses me that some people will make conclusions without having sufficient facts...)

quote:

I hate to refute what you've stated, but my family will not be bothered by any vapors from the 2-26 because they live 2000 miles away from my residence.

Spray away, and enjoy the fumes!

Spray away?

Wrong again, CW!

I'll be wiping it on.

This is my Train and Billiard Room Addition, seperate from the House, added to the Garage.

BAD ORDER

Ok...well now that it's settled.  Ahhha separate bldg...now that's the way to go.

Right, Chris!

But when I had it built in 1999, it was to be just a Billiard Parlor, but 14 years later, in June 2013, I began construction of my present O-scale 2-Rail layout, which will be a year since I started work this June.

BAD ORDER HAL

[no highballing on the rip track]

I like the idea...a nice game of billiards with a nice scotch.  And now a beautiful train running in the background...seems like a great way to spend an evening...I'm envious.   

Don't be too envious, Chris...

That Tournament-Size Billiard Table hasn't heard the clack of balls in over 4 years. 

Nobody plays me anymore because I'm no challenge.  The only person I can beat is my wife.

I miss nearly every shot because I'm horribly unsteady in the launch of the cue ball, and I can't put the right English on it, even though the table has been in that room for almost 15 years!

I have the film "The Hustler", but I don't watch it anymore, because I know that Willie Mosconi is making all those shots, not Paul Newman or Jackie Gleason.

I admire your taste in drinks, but personally, I just can't relate to Scotch, and Judy doesn't like me drinking Bourbon, Vodka, or Gin...just Rum, which she trained me to drink!

So I go out to my Game Room with a Rum & Coke and let my Calico Freight Line Special trot around my 124 feet of Atlas Flextrack Dogbone, not seeing any Grade Crossings, Siding Turnouts, Bridges, Trestles, Spur Tracks, Yards, Turntables, or Signals. 

I usually stay for about 15 minutes when I'm alone, and a little longer when I have guests, who usually ask stupid questions about Railroading.

No...don't be THAT envious!

BAD ORDER (over crushed ice)

(Here's Judy with her 1967 Piper J3-49-RXL/9-59S/UYD-77-2) 

On CRC 2-26 application     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReSUSruSVVY     Stephen    (cTr...Choose the Right)