Yes, I have. Dawn, is a detergent based cleaning product. You need to keep that in mind while using it. Yes, I've used it to remove the oil and grease that leaked down onto the rails. from my stoves and motors. Followed with water to rinse the detergent off.
Just to set the record straight, WD-40 is a petroleum distillate, probably similar to kerosene. No fish oil. One of the 1,001 myths spread about that product over the years. I don't use it to clean train wheels. Of course, these days, I don't use anything to clean train wheels. Doug
Yes, I have but keep in mind it's a detergent based product. I've used it to clean the oil and grease off the rails. Followed by water to rinse the rails.
One drop of dawn in an old 'waterpik flosser' cleans the grooves in an LP slicker then scum off a Louisiana swamp...LOL
When you say "IPA", are you referring to the medicinal product that's in high demand and sold out everywhere lately - or might you instead mean this:
If you're getting the amount of build up of crap shown on that Kadee truck in Rick's photo, then I can only wonder how the loco continues to run. If just swapping to metal wheels from plastic wheels solves the problem, then what happens to all that crap that the plastic wheels were picking up? Do metal wheels magically make it disappear? It seems to me that it's the layout, not just the wheels, that needs cleaning. That aside though, I have to wonder whether that transition car is always run with the Kadee truck to the front (perhaps coupled behind the loco). In that case I would expect it to collect more gunk than the other truck, simply because it gets to it first, and picks it up before the metal wheels come in contact with it. Case not yet proven, in my opinion. Regards, Ron
Well, I guess I will step into the fire and take the heat. A long time ago, I switched to metal wheelsets on all my rolling stock that goes on the track. Since then I have never really had any issues with dirty wheels. Not one single issue. The only problem I have is that I still have too many cars with plastic wheels and a not enough metal wheels to finish the conversion.
Did you have a problem with dirty wheels before converting cars to metal wheels? I have about 300 cars on my layout, and about one-quarter of them have metal wheels. I haven't cleaned any wheels in 30+ years (apart from loco wheels, which are metal.)
No, I just can not deal with constantly dealing with dirty track. Then a metallurgist I know told me that metal on metal would polish both surfaces and he was right. So I switched and never have to clean track. I have bright track rails all the time.
FYI, I can't imagien the oil would supress arcing, the arc could simply burn through the oil. And the oil inelectrical transformers is unlikely to be kerosene. It used to be something that was outlawed by the EPA, and I don't know what replaced it. But kerosene would be dangerous. If you live where squirrels do, you know how they often commit suicide on electrical transformers, and a big juicy one wil make quite an arc causing the transformer to explode. You wouldn't want kerosene blowing up in your back yard.
So, ... you are saying that your plastic wheels DID NOT pick up dirt, and you previously said that your metal wheels do not pick up dirt. That is my experience too.
I rarely over the years have had to clean wheels on rolling stock, but wheels on locomotives is a different story. And for that I have my Tidy Track wheel cleaner. Just set the locos on it and apply power. Every so often I run a track cleaning consist of an Aztec cleaning car plus at least two Masonite pad cars. My rolling stock is about 80% plastic wheels and 20% metal.
I'm back to hearing what I've always heard in these discussions. Some of you are missing the point. I just gave you evidence at the beginning of this thread that Metal Wheels pick-up just as much gunk/dirt as do plastic wheels. If you want a reminder...here you are. Plastic Wheels and they are dirty. Metal Wheels and they are dirty. The river of Denali, loves you guys who think wheels can't get dirty. I said not laughing out loud and no grin on my face. David, has a train room that has filtered air and is climate controlled. He's not likely to have the problems some of the rest of us will have. I've been waiting for Engr. Bill to jump in here about a track cleaning additive he uses on his tracks. I hope he's okay. A word to our beloved Croakers: Track gets dirty, layouts get dirty and as we say in the professional cleaning business Environmental Build Up happens. There's little you or anyone else can do aside from routine cleaning maintenance, to avoid it. It will happen to your layout. You can use anything you want to clean your track and wheels or ignore the problem that would be your choice. Now with all that said. Maybe we can get back on track. Excuse me, I need to run and duck for cover.
Oh, and I closed the deal on this dirty wheeled, Southern, N Scale, Mail Storage/Baggage Car. It will be added to one of three different mail trains I'm building. Now to get the shed moved so I can use it to help me restore my train layout.
Ron, Thanks for your participation and come back here. Just switching out to metal wheels and expecting cleaner track, I don't think so. What's the proof say? Doing as most of us do to maintain our layouts is the real answer. See George's and John Moore's submissions. You'll hear me say emphatically: I've cleaned as much gunk off my metal wheels as I have my plastic wheels. Your last question about the transition Passenger car. I believe you are correct. The owner that had it before I bought it did use it knuckle couplers hooked to the locomotive. As he changed his equipment over from Rapido Couplers to Knuckle Couplers he could use the car to couple up to a locomotive with knuckle couplers or visa versa. Most of his passenger trains had Rapido Couplers so guessing it was knuckle couplers hooked up to locomotive and you can figure out the rest. George, I passed up pushing my trains around my layout and making choo choo noises when I was five years old. Unless the track and wheels got dirty. Grin!
Hi Rick, I don't know about the metal wheels verses plastic wheels when it comes to gunk accumulation, but from my personal experience "modern" metal wheel sets seem to roll with less friction than the plastic wheel sets. The only proof I have is my own Hollow Core Door layout. When my entire fleet was equipped with plastic wheels, I thought my layout was level, When I started replacing the plastic wheels with metal wheels from Micro-Trains and Fox Valley, the cars would no longer sit at the Snyder box company dock and I had to re-level the layout As for Wahl Hair Clipper Oil, a data sheet I've seen indicates it's White Mineral Oil. That being said, mineral oil is known as not being conductive and is just a highly refined petroleum product. I know people swear by it, but I've always asked why you would want to oil your tracks, oil reduces friction which will reduce your locomotives tractive effort. Now I'm going to duck and cover My method is two fold, I use a Cratex block to clean my rails when the layout has sat idle for a week or two. Second method, I have a Centerline Track Cleaning Car that I've replaced the roller with a piece of bright boy. I run that track cleaning car ahead of my locomotives to knock the dust off the rails. My rails are bright and shiny and I've not noticed any large buildups on any of my rolling stock wheels except the wheels on the track cleaning car. Almost forgot to mention, I clean my locomotive wheels with Isopropyl Alcohol and paper towels. I guess as the old saying goes, Your Mileage May Vary.
I don't know how much 'rollability' one needs on a HCD layout. I never had a layout that small. I saw some and they reminded me of my HO trainset running on a 4X8 sheet of plywood. That's why I joined NTRAK. Now, I run plastic wheels unless a piece of equipment came with metal wheels. But all my Atlas, Roundhouse, ConCor, Bev Bel, Bowser, Micro Trains cars have MT trucks, couplers and wheelsets. I always run with at least two locomotives because that is what I see around here on the prototype. Probably don't need two unless, on that rare occasion, when we break club rules about operating a train longer than our longest siding which can handle about 40 forty foot cars. The plastic wheels roll just fine.
