Hi folks. Just a quick introduction for myself, I'm new to the forum but not at all new to trains or OGR magazine. I've been in the hobby since I was about 3 years old. I have a Lionel collection that spans the years from from pre war to modern era. My collection is kept in my parent's basement where I have had it for the last 20 years. We never had water in the basement until Hurricane Irene came through last year and we got about a foot and a half of water down there. Unfortunately a lot of stuff ended up under water. Some post war engines and rolling stock, all my plasticville in original boxes, a lot of my original Lionel boxes. Talk about painful stuff. I finally got the chance to start going through and cleaning the trains this week (I know it should have been done months ago, but life gets in the way sometimes). I started with my 726 Berk that I don't think was under water but it sat in VERY humid conditions for several days before I was able to get it out of the basement. I pulled it apart yesterday and cleaned and lubed it and she runs like a champ. Not sure the smoke unit survived, but that's not a huge concern right now. Right now my bigger concern is the shell. I thought it had developed some mold on it from the humidity so I gently cleaned it with detergent, warm water and a soft toothbrush. Its definitely cleaner, but the spots didn't come off at all. Here's a photo of what I'm talking about; Now I'm thinking maybe the metal is corroding under the paint. Do you think I have any options short of repainting it? What kills me is that almost all of my engines (metal and plastic shells) have similar looking spots. Maybe I'll have more luck on the plastic shells. Thanks for any help.
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There is a specific type of mold family that is made by floods quite dangerous to us humans.
I don't know if it is what you are facing down there.
Thanks for the baking soda tip, I'll give it a try. As for the mold, I think we should be fine by now. We took several weeks of pulling everything out of the basement, then bleaching and cleaning everything. We ran the dehumidifier 24 hours until the furnace kicked on for the winter. It really dried everything out as far as I can tell.
Well, you're right about one thing, you should have been working on this ASAP after the flooding.
I'd strip them down and clean everything inside and out. For electronics, you can wash almost any board in plain tap water and scrub with a soft brush. You just need to get it REALLY dry before using it again.
My method of drying electronics is to first use compressed air to get most of the moisture out, then I put them in a 125-150F oven and leave them overnight. It won't hurt them, and it'll really chase the moisture out.
I've had good luck using WD-40 to get rid of mold & mildew.
If there isn't a bulge under those spots I would try 75% vinegar and 25% water with a brush, then rinse in hot water. I just saved a post war tender that way.
I think Rob is right, most of this is probably calcium, which responds to the acidic vinegar.
I just wanted to give you guys an update. You had terrific ideas. I started with some baking soda and water and saw a significant improvement in the appearance of the shell. Next I cleaned it with some vinegar and water and the result is like night and day. Take a look and see for yourselves:
I have to say a huge thanks to all of you. Now I need to get to work on the rest of the trains. One down, a whole lot more to go....
Well, I'm not adding anything constructive here. Just my sympathy and angst on your behalf. I went through this similar thing last year.
My basement flooded, and although I was able to rescue most of my trains and dry them out fairly quickly (in the hot sunshine on my back porch, which was the best thing I could think of in an emergency bulk situation), the worst part of the whole thing after the fact was losing all the boxes. Seriously! I saved all but one engine, minus some decals and what-not on rolling stock. But the boxes are gone forever, and that, oddly, was really painful.
Grease and oil those fellas until they purr again!
Best of luck.