What is your secret forumla for cleaning track?

Dennis, I've had the best success using 91% rubbing alcohol on a cloth/paper towel on my Atlas"O" track. For real stubborn spots, I'll use some Scotchbrite. Simple, but effective.

I use goo gone liquid on a cloth and follow with a dry cloth to remove any chemical residue.

Seems to work better for me than 91 percent alcohol.

I stay away from abrasives as well.

I don't think this topic has ever been covered on this forum before.

An alcohol soaked cloth and elbow grease have always served me well. I've also had very good results using the 'Life-Like' track cleaner available from most train stores. (Link to one example.)

Secret Formula...  (I'd tell you, but then I'd have to..........just kidding!)

Here's what I've learned in 69 years...

If you don't keep the car/engine wheels clean as faithfully as you would the track, you're wasting your elbow grease to treat only the track.

Yep, if the track is doity, the wheels/rollers are doity, too.

Ergo, cleaning the track is a great idea if the relatives' kids just hit the door for a surprise visit and will expect a good run or two of the trains.  But, if you want the best longer-term results from track cleaning....clean the wheels/rollers on the things that will roll on the track periodically.

My wife and I assist area folks in disposing of estate hobby items...mostly trains.  It never ceases to amaze me how caked with black crud the car wheels, in particular, are.  Big chunks of greasy black poop can be scraped off the wheels with a screwdriver or putty knife blade.  GROSS!!  So, clean the track, run the dirty wheels over the track, the track is dirty again!  Even worse if there's any cleaner residue on the track to loosen and transfer wheel crud back onto the track.

Hey, I know it's a PITA, but when I got to thinking about the futility of expecting clean track, only, to solve common running electrical problems, it's just worth the effort.  Besides, it encourages you to find easy/fast ways to clean the wheels.  AND, if you do it regularly, there's not as much crud to deal with.

But, then, that's just MHO....and 'secret'.

Hey, you asked!

KD

Nicole you're right on the money. People tend to scoff at using the track cleaner. I've been using it for years. With it one does not suffer the ill effects of using hazardous chemicals.

Gargraves wood tie flex. I formerly used Scotchbrite lightly on the rails, firmer pressure on the black center rail. Then 91% alcohol followed by a dry cloth.

Current small attic layout still has ballast glue mix and railside rust paint on some of the track applied in 2010.

Sort of running behind on rail cleaning.

Thanks happy Pappy.  I used that cleaner for many years until I moved back to Europe. It's really good stuff, but I can't get it over here, so I'm back to using the alcohol. 

I use 91% alcohol on a rag and do it alot. But every once in a while, I "gleam" the rails with a stainless steel washer to smooth them out. 

-Roger

My method is a Weaver track cleaning car that does not use any chemical.  Since my layout has expanded, this has saved me time.  Three times around and I am done.  After running the car every 2 or 3 months, I probably have not run it in over 6 months now and have not had any issues.  

I do not work for Weaver and the car is a $200 investment to start, however, it is worth it in my opinion.

David56

For years - a lot of them at that - I've first gone over the railheads with a track cleaning eraser and then wiped them down with a rag soaked with commercial track cleaner, usually Life-Like. My technique has worked well for me. And, as KD stated above, periodically cleaning the third rail contacts and wheels is a really good idea.

Bob 

CTC + SR + EG = CT

That's my formula.

Commercial Track Cleaner + Soft Rag + Elbow Grease = Clean Track.

Just about every LHS techie I have talked to shys away from track cleaning cars as a very effective method. Still, I would like to find one.

I regularly use a track cleaning car with a small piece of a Scotch-Brite pad attached...light pressure scrubs the rails.  Once a month I hit the track with 91% ISO. ALCOHOL on an old sock.

The 91% Isopropyl works best for me on my Atlas Steel Track & you can get a large bottle of it at Wal-Mart for a couple of bucks. On stubbon spots I use Med. or fine sandflex hand block made by Klingspor.

After my layout sat idle for 2 1/2 years, I tried to operate a number of engines, non of which would run. At first I thought their was a wiring problem, until it was narrowed down to DIRTY TRACK.

Using track cleaning cars with IPA did not help.

What work was elbow grease,  using a brite boy and a soft cloth dampened with isopropyl alcohol.

It has been over twelve years now since the BIG cleaning effort was done.

All that has been required since then is to run my track cleaning cars around the system several times ever couple of months.

It seems that many of you are having success with 91% alcohol but here is the question. Track crud on the tracks develops from a bit of excess oil/grease used on the locos and rolling stock wheels coming down while everything is in motion.. Oil/grease is petroleum based while alcohol is water based. Is alcohol really an efficient degreaser?

I would think that Perchlorethylene (Brake Kleen or Garment dry cleaning solution) might be better but then again it might be harmful if it gets on any painted surfaces or on plastic as on FasTrack or on rubber traction wheels. Perchlor is also toxic to breathe.

Cleaning track may be a simple question but when choosing a cleaner, it seems that the environment of the layout must also be taken in to consideration. I have decided to try 99% alcohol and see how it removes the residual grease and oil.

I use brake clean on a rag or paper towel and scotchbrite.

No liquids for me, just a track cleaning car with a scotch-brite pad to keep the mainline clean and some loose pads to do yard and industrial tracks by hand.

That bit about keeping wheels and rollers clean is also an important piece of the puzzle.

Simple green and steel wool!

Water is water based, alcohol is alcohol based, we use methanol and isopropal at work to clean the vacumn chamber equipment and it does a pretty good job of getting dust, grease and what have you off the parts.

For my track (Realtrax) personally I use a fine drywall sanding block followed by a rag with Goof Off on it, just be careful to not get it on any plastic it will damage it.

Jerry

Lately I've tried nail polish remover. Don't get too excited, this one seems to more of an alcohol base rather than acetone. Picked it up at a dollar store. I prefer to wipe my track, as with Super'O'  there are power blades between sections, and I would always think that the scotchbrite pads would get caught on these.

Yes! I recommend Simple Green and stell wool, too: use it once a week for six weeks and you will never have to clean that track again!

I use Patrick's Trains cleaning car with iso alcohol, a Brightboy eraser to follow up.  

I use denatured alcohol. Little bit of fumes, but it clears in less than an 1 hour. Doesn't harm FasTrack. Seemed to work better than isopropyl. It is flammable though, so caution is required. I attach a pieces of wash cloth or towel to a drywall pole sander with the pivoting head and short stick. Then I just slide it around for two laps every month or so.

I recently purchased some used switches that had some rust developing on the rail tops. I cleaned them with the synthetic Norton product similar to #000 steel wool. Worked nicely. More of a polish than a sanding and left no scratches. Similar to a ScotchBrite pad, but finer.

Ahh yes, wheels. Thomas gets the most run time. After a year, he was acting up. I took the fine wire wheel on a Dremel a the lowest speed and brushed the wheels, except for the traction tire, of course. Then a quick wipe with denatured alcohol and he was fine.

91% rubbibg alcohol on cloth

Scotch-brite pads on stubborn particulates.

Peter

Yes, Morristown and Erie, I am glad to see that this subject is finally being discussed

here. Brand new data.

"Elbow Grease" plus DRY paper towels - NO liquids.

Hard work? you betcha, but it works for me.

I always vacuum afterwards to get any leftover towel debri. 

LGB Track Cleaning Block on RealTrax works very well.  Be careful with Goof-Off it's as strong as Acetone.

A dry kitchen scouring pad under a gondola works well for me. I run two of the gondolas with scouring pads regularly. Liquid track cleaners soften and ruin the traction tires on my locomotives. Rarely do I find crud on wheels.

I use denatured alcohol. If you use rubbing alcohol it can rust steel track but not with denatured.

Never had a real reason to clean 3r tracks so far in 7 years.

I’m amazed as to why this track cleaning topic is always discussed?

Two rail or H.O.’ers, it’s required but running DCS – Lionel O PS, Atlas O, Weaver or MTH items, I haven’t seen the need.

I’ve wiped down the rails only because everyone said to do that, but never see much black on the rag.

Is it the environment? Basement? Conventional operation? Type of engines / rolling stock, track or unnecessary lubrication being applied?

The rolling stock wheels can get a build-up as I sometimes see on customer items. My MTH power units and subways always run fine.

I’ve never needed to lubricate any brands mentioned above. Everything always seems to run smoothly even at

really low speeds with DCS.

So what’s going on?

Perplexed…

Sirt

You are just one lucky guy

I agree with this statement. My "secret formula" has always been either denatured alcohol on a soft cotton shop rag wrapped around a piece of 1"X2" wood, or for difficult cleaning, I use lacquer thinner on the same cotton shop rag.

However, I never realized that this was a "secret formula".

Denatured alcohol here as well, cuts the crud fast and works well.

Dennis, you've been around the forum since 2004, is there anything about track cleaning you HAVE NOT read before????????????

Steve, Lady and Tex

being I mostly run at the club we have been using denatured alcohol and goo-gone for many years and I only have to clean wheels every couple of years.

we use a shamwow cut into 2 inch by 6 inch strips and wrap it around a aluminum block that is put into a cut out flat car.  we pull two of these at a time changing the pads until all you see are the indents of the track.  the club president gets phone calls from runners who do not clean track very well that their engines do not run well good. he tells them to clean track better and sure enough trains run again.

when people show up for a behind the scenes tour we usually show how we clean track. been doing it this way for over ten years.  your mileage my very.

I use Scotch Brite pads with elbow grease.   Then wipe track with Goo Gone followed by a dry wipe with a clean dry cloth.  Works fine for me.

Yes Nicole but what are you going to use on the track

James

Oops! Sorry, I forgot. I use alcohol for cleaning the track too. 

This Tackman 2000, side track next to the engine house, does a decent job of removing dust and debris from the track.  The pads can be cleaned with lacquer thinner when they become dirty black. 

(1.) Traction tire residue seems to be the biggest issue. 

(2.) Still after many years of cleaning, the worst issue was using steel wool, because the equipment, primarily speaker magnets, picked up the small pieces of steel left on the track.

(3.) The chemical cleaners did O.K., but again there were issues of using them, some already mentioned. 

(4.) A couple of times around the track with this track cleaner seems to work.

(5.) The Track Cleaner that Weaver currently has on their website seems to work O.K., but apparently there are issue with clearing small ground objects near the track.

(6.)  New cars seem to roll-off paint residue from the wheels, Cleaning the wheels with a paint thinner/lacquer thinner seems like a reasonable approach, away from the layout, doing less damage with materials that can be dangerous.  Worst case, was an Atlas RS-1, hit and miss operations.  Spent some time cleaning the wheels, and it ran find.   It was always surprising, when I would bring rolling stock back from a train meet, to see excess crud build-up on the wheels.  

May be more equipment maintenance,  less track maintenance.