Hey folks I'm back after a 5 month Hiatus. I finally gotten around to clearing junk to resume working on my layout. 1) How are most of you guys going about cleaning rail? I have been using a Brite-Boy and it works well. 2) How can I prevent cobwebs and dust from settling on my layout. (has been a problem before my summer absense.) 3) Still having problems getting my ballast to bond with the glue and not look all jagged and messy. I have tried mixture of water and deteregtn with glue and rubbing alcohol. The Ballast seems to be water resistan but I have come up with a few i deas. I'll post my results as time permits. I hope to get some pictures posted before winter sets, in. I am, for now, probably going to shelve the plans for a Fictional railroad and just back date into the late 70's Early 80's, since I already have a Chessie GP40-2 and a WM GP35. I found out how hard it is to custom paint a detail a locomotive. I'll probably enjoy that more when I get older and settle in better to the hobby.
I use a Brite Boy. Am quite satisfied with it over many years. Cobwebs mean spiders. So, spray the room. And then try to find how they are getting in the house. There's access to the outdoors that must be sealed off. Dust. You might consider buying an inexpensive air filter. Perhaps one you could leave continually running? Can the room be shut off from the rest of the home? Boxcab E50
I have used some pretty expensive liquid track cleaners, brite boy, alcohols and Tony's $99.00 Clean Machine some of which I no longer use. The paste cleaner"MAAS" has retired my $99.00 cleaning car and is now up for sale. www.maasinc.com is a 2oz tube for $3.00 For a quickie, I still use the brite boy.
I use Flitz metal polish, same type of product as Maas. It is sold in hardware stores. What brand ballast are you using? Most types bond well but I have one brand that I have a hard time with. The way I bond ballast is to have a spray bottle with water and dish soap mix (a small shot of soap to one full bottle of water). Wet the ballast; don't be shy with the water soap mix. Get it wet but not flooded. Then I have an Elmers glue bottle that I fill half with matte medium and half with water. I used to use Elmers white glue and water. I switched to matte medium because I heard that the white glue would yellow over the years. I have never had that happen but I don't want to take any chances. Adjust the nozzle on the bottle filled with the glue / water mix to drop with just a small amount of squeeze pressure. Work you way down the track slowly adding the glue so you don't wash away the ballast. I start between the rails so the excess flows down the sides. Add glue to the point when you start to see the glue water mix not be absorbed into the ballast. You should see white water in the ballast, but not flooding and running down the slopes of the sides. Go slow because there is a fine line between the right amount and too much. I like to only do short stretches of track a time, about 4-5 feet. If I try to do more than that then I tend to rush and get sloppy. Work very careful around switches, they can really get glued tight. I have noticed that Woodland Scenic light gray ballast is harder to bond then their cinder ballast. Scenic Express cinder ballast seams to float on the "wet" water (soap water mix) no matter how much soap water I add. I have tried alcohol and that didn't work very well either. The best I have found is Kodak Photo Flow and water mix, not perfect but better.
Actually I use a mixture which is quite realistic to the ballast around here. About 3/5 Medium Grey Ballast, with about 2/5 light Grey Ballast with a dash or two of black ballast to simulate spilled coal over time. All Woodland Scenics. Even their own glue doesn't work.
For track cleaning I use a bright boy from time to time. About twice a year I use a track cleaning car(the brass one with the handiwipe rolled up) with either clipper oil or Goo Gone. I have been switching to metal wheels on as many cars as I can. I have heard that the metal wheels help keep the rails cleaner.
I also had the center-line (brass roller) but traded up to Tony's Clean Machine. Discovered all I needed was the $3.00 MAAS. I just keep the car around to remind me that it need not be expensive to clean track. Metal wheels are far superior to plastic. but replacing them is not as easy as a coupler because of 28"-33"-36-38 size, rounded/pointed ends. Because of greater free rolling ability you can run longer trains. Also axles vary in length, under an inch to over an inch depending upon the manufacturer. Here's a little help. http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/002/197xvpbs.asp www.micromark.com click on item# 82838, then click again to enlarge. http"//www.nmra.org/beginner/wheelsets.html [ 27. August 2003, 10:18: Message edited by: locomotive2 ]
