Track cleaning car recommendations

[MK]

Pete, I bought this at the Amherst train show.  I didn't buy the entire cleaning kits as I can push this myself with a stick or figure out a what to mount it under a freight car.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/TT4552/page/1

They have the more abrasive grade blocks too for the stubborn layout.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/TT4551/page/1

Entire kit.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/TT4550/page/1

I have not open my package yet to feel it but visually it looks like a block of very fine pumice or something of the like.  Certainly much much finer than a bright boy.  A bright boy may do the job but it leaves fairly large, but microscopic, gouges on the tracks and creating pits for more dirt to be trapped.  Then you need to bright the tracks again, catch-22.

I may give it a shot tomorrow since we'll probably be snowed in in the metro NYC area.

Just want to give an update.  The Woodland Scenics maintenance block worked out fantastic!  No need to buy the kit.  I just put a rubber tip on to the end of a take out Chinese food chopstick and pushed the block around.  No residue like an eraser on the layout.  I lightly wiped the tracks down with some coffee filter wetted with 91%.

Held my breath and took some locos out of the display case.  Bingo!  Nice smooth operations!

Now for some DE-OX-ID treatment and I should be good for a while. 

[peteski]

Just want to give an update.  The Woodland Scenics maintenance block worked out fantastic!  No need to buy the kit.  I just put a rubber tip on to the end of a take out Chinese food chopstick and pushed the block around.  No residue like an eraser on the layout.  I lightly wiped the tracks down with some coffee filter wetted with 91%.

Held my breath and took some locos out of the display case.  Bingo!  Nice smooth operations!

Now for some DE-OX-ID treatment and I should be good for a while. 

I never heard of anybody using an eraser to clean track!  Or do you mean the Briteboy which is sort of like an ink eraser but with coarser abrasive?

I'm also not a fan of coating the track with oily substances.  (some people swear by De-ox-id, Wahl Clipper Oil, transmission fluid, or some other oily stuff) but to me that doesn't make sense. My main concern is that the oily track will attract whatever dust and dirt falls on the layout and the wheels passing through that oily grime will pick up that muck spreading is all over the layout. After all we are trying to keep the track clean, no making it dirtier.  We run all sorts of cleaners over our track just to coat it with oil?  Then there is ths possibility that oily track will make the loco's wheels slip (it will have less traction pulling  long trains).  Lastly, I worry about the effect oily substance will have on the rubbery traction tires (if you have any on your locos).

To me it makes most sense to keep the track clean and dry, but I also understand that the track cleaning/mainenence is like poltics or religion: a hotly contested subject with many different viewpoints. 

As far as pushing the cleaning device along the track by hand, that is by far the simplest method, but many people have layouts where the track is not easily accessible (hidden behind scenery, too far in to reach or in some sort of a tunnel or helix), so that is why some modelers need t have some sort of cleanign trains which will reach those hidden areas.

[C855B]

[sigh]

I thought track cleaning discussions automatically fell into the "religion" category. Where are the moderators?

   

[peteski]

[sigh]

I thought track cleaning discussions automatically fell into the "religion" category. Where are the moderators?

   

Blame the bacon and cabbage guy -- he started this thread. Um, he is a moderator too.   

[MK]

I never heard of anybody using an eraser to clean track!  Or do you mean the Briteboy which is sort of like an ink eraser but with coarser abrasive?

Yes, anything that sheds and drops stuff on your layout as you rub the rails.

I'm also not a fan of coating the track with oily substances.  (some people swear by De-ox-id, Wahl Clipper Oil, transmission fluid, or some other oily stuff) but to me that doesn't make sense. My main concern is that the oily track will attract whatever dust and dirt falls on the layout and the wheels passing through that oily grime will pick up that muck spreading is all over the layout. After all we are trying to keep the track clean, no making it dirtier.  We run all sorts of cleaners over our track just to coat it with oil?  Then there is ths possibility that oily track will make the loco's wheels slip (it will have less traction pulling  long trains).  Lastly, I worry about the effect oily substance will have on the rubbery traction tires (if you have any on your locos).

I'm going to give DE-OX-ID Special A a try based on this write up.  I'm more interested in the oxidation prevention aspect of it.  You wipe it off after the chemical reaction takes place so you're not leaving a coating on the rails.  All the comments seem to be very favorable.

http://www.nscale.net/forums/content.php?32-Track-cleaning-Linn-Westcott-and-No-Ox#comments

[peteski]

Yes, anything that sheds and drops stuff on your layout as you rub the rails.

I'm going to give DE-OX-ID Special A a try based on this write up.  I'm more interested in the oxidation prevention aspect of it.  You wipe it off after the chemical reaction takes place so you're not leaving a coating on the rails.  All the comments seem to be very favorable.

http://www.nscale.net/forums/content.php?32-Track-cleaning-Linn-Westcott-and-No-Ox#comments

Any oily coating over bare metal will provide a barrier from oxidation.  NO-OX-ID (I never heard of DE-OX-ID) is also an oily substance. That is why some swear by Wahl Clipper Oil or transmission fluid. They are all petroleum products (oils). 

It seems that the company making this stuff is tight-lipped about its contents (either because they use some sort of magical secret stuff or maybe because it is some everyday ingredient that they don't want to fess up to).  The only info about the contents I found in all the MSDS' is Mineral Spirits rule 66.

Like I said, track (and wheel) cleaning methods are highly contested subjects - I prefer mine clean and dry, while the greasy stuff might work well for you.

[MK]

Sorry Pete, I meant NO-OX-ID Special A.  Fingers not listening to brain.  Supposedly it's safe on plastic (but some how affects traction tires) so I'm guessing there's no petroleum distillates?  Did you come across the MSDS for it?  I would like to read it.  Found it on Sanchem's website.  Will read it later...

The nscale.net link refers to a chemical reaction when applied and that even cleaning with alcohol does not affect it.  Maybe it's just Ivory soap in a different form. 

[peteski]

Sorry Pete, I meant NO-OX-ID Special A.  Fingers not listening to brain.  Supposedly it's safe on plastic (but some how affects traction tires) so I'm guessing there's no petroleum distillates?  Did you come across the MSDS for it?  I would like to read it.  Found it on Sanchem's website.  Will read it later...

The nscale.net link refers to a chemical reaction when applied and that even cleaning with alcohol does not affect it.  Maybe it's just Ivory soap in a different form. 

Mineral Spirits Rule 66 ( https://heritagefinishingproducts.com/products/mineral-spirits-rule-66 ) which I mentioned in my previous post *IS* a petroleum distillate.   

One of the  posts in the nscale.net thread you brought up earlier mentioned that DE-OX-ID does not harm traction tires.   

[MK]

One of the  posts in the nscale.net thread you brought up earlier mentioned that DE-OX-ID does not harm traction tires.   

Pete, it does NOT say that.  You don't have to read all the responses, just the initial post.  It tells you to take off the traction tires as you run the engine on the initially treated tracks.  Then wipe off what's on the wheels and reinstall the tires.

Mineral spirits is a degreaser that flashes off quickly.  Once evaporated, it leaves no residue.  Thus once you wipe the thin coating off, it would have been enough time for whatever mineral spirit left to flash off.  This is only a guess on my part as the MSDS states only 8% mineral spirit.  You are already starting off on a minute amount smeared on the tracks every 2-3 inches.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a fanboy of this stuff, heck I haven't even applied it yet.  But from what I read on that link and the posts on Trainboard, with no negative posts (other than the traction tires), this might work.

I will report back after testing on my 2'x4' portable layout.

[glakedylan]

not sure i am following correctly....are we discussing DE-OX-IT, NO-OX-ID, or NO-OX???
thanks for helping me catch up and follow more accurately.
sincerely
Gary

[peteski]

Pete, it does NOT say that.  You don't have to read all the responses, just the initial post.  It tells you to take off the traction tires as you run the engine on the initially treated tracks.  Then wipe off what's on the wheels and reinstall the tires.

Mineral spirits is a degreaser that flashes off quickly.  Once evaporated, it leaves no residue.  Thus once you wipe the thin coating off, it would have been enough time for whatever mineral spirit left to flash off.  This is only a guess on my part as the MSDS states only 8% mineral spirit.  You are already starting off on a minute amount smeared on the tracks every 2-3 inches.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a fanboy of this stuff, heck I haven't even applied it yet.  But from what I read on that link and the posts on Trainboard, with no negative posts (other than the traction tires), this might work.

I will report back after testing on my 2'x4' portable layout.

But I did read the entire first page.    The last post on page 1 (by gary60s) states:
BTW...No-Ox WILL NOT wreck traction tires. They may come off, if revised application directions are not followed, but cleaning them with a q tip will allow you to reinstall them.
I can not stress enough, the importance of following the application directions to the letter.

So we have conflicting statements. 

My take on this NO-OX-ID stuff is that it similar to WD40: a thicker lubriicant dissolved in some sort of solvent (petroleum distillate).  Once the solvent evaporates there is a thin film of the lubricant left on the surface. With WD40 this is easily observed is some of it is put on a smooth surface (like glass) and left for few days.

I'll be curious about your experience - be sure to post your results after you start using it.

[MK]

not sure i am following correctly....are we discussing DE-OX-IT, NO-OX-ID, or NO-OX???
thanks for helping me catch up and follow more accurately.
sincerely
Gary

Gary,

NO-OX-ID A-Special.  Used to be carried by Bar Mills.

[Cajonpassfan]

There is this great scene in the Emperor of the North that explains everything I need to know about oiling track
Otto K., tongue in cheek....

[glakedylan]

thanks, MK!
i seem to have gotten confused when referring to the NScale.net site
and readings posts there that a search turned up.
back on track here.
Gary

[MK]

thanks, MK!
i seem to have gotten confused when referring to the NScale.net site
and readings posts there that a search turned up.
back on track here.
Gary

Gary,

Here's the direct link to the post and comments that piqued my interest on NScale.net.

http://www.nscale.net/forums/content.php?32-Track-cleaning-Linn-Westcott-and-No-Ox&page=3#comments

I got the link off from a post on Trainboard where the OP came back to his thread recently (4 years later!!!) to report on this stuff.  That's where it caught my eye.  Here's the TB thread in case you are interested.

http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/another-no-ox-thread.67941/