You can use steel wool(0000) to start a fire in a survival situation with a flashlight. Take the bulb and reflector off, place the loosely waded steel wool on the top of the battery and turn the flashlight on. Instant flames! Of course be ready with other kindling. It's amazing how flammable steel wool is and definitely not a good idea for track cleaning, magna traction or not.
Back to the original story, I have to wonder how many other kids have abused their trains for amusement. One of the big differences of AC-powered O-gauge trains compared to DC-powered HO is that they can be easily arranged for cornfield meets. Of course no-one on this forum would have ever done such a thing ...
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When I got back into O gauge in the 1980's I used steel wool to clean some of my old track until I read Roland Lavoie's warning not to in his Lionel book. First time I put my track together and turned out the room lights for night running I would periodically see these little flares around the track where the steel wool fibers would momentarily short and burn up - kinda creepy. Good thing the track was on plywood and not the rug. Figured out the potential Magne-Traction problem before the stuff got in my engines. 
Hi Jerry speaking of rugs, just think what steel wool can do to carpet fibers as poeple walk on it.
Originally Posted by gg1man:
Hi Jerry speaking of rugs, just think what steel wool can do to carpet fibers as poeple walk on it.
Not to mention what it can do to bare feet walking upon said rug.
