First report back on WD 40 for track cleaning: Yes it works. I cleaned about 35 feet thru the yard and up the back 2% upgrade. The best thing I found...spray some on a cotton rag...like an old sock. Wipe the rails. Wait about 10 minutes. Get a clean rag. Wipe the rails down with the dry rag. I found that it cleaned more 'gunk' off the rails then IPA...IMHO. Wiping it off the track...I didnt have any wheel slippage...even upgrades. Will WD 40 prove to be the best track cleaner ? Will the minute residual WD 40 that may be on the rails cause less arcing between the locomotive wheels and the rails...thus reducing 'gunk' buildup ? Time will tell.
What did you do with the George I knew? Look out George is getting all scientific, in his old age. Good one!
WD40 does clean. Try it on your car light lenses and see what a difference it makes. The only problem I've had with it on the N Scale track is if I don't get it removed and I run a motor or stove with traction tires through it. Clarafication: while it's still wet. You'll end up having to replace the TT's. Don't ask me how I know. I'm still grimacing over that one. A good friend at Con Cor warned me not to. Aiiyiiyii !! I've also used it as an electrical contact cleaner to get some shelf queens going again. Again, you don't want to leave it wet, as it will draw dirt, dust, hair and such to it. Quite the dirt magnet. I don't know when the concern over arcing became such an issue. We've always noted it but didn't see it as a problem. Stay cool, and run your railroad.
Joe Fugate adresses that in his article. Thats what got me thinking and experimenting. I suppose you 'can teach an old dog new tricks' eh...
If you have an extra passenger car, say a baggage/ mail car make a masonite track cleaner out of it. For wheel cleaning I use a dremel, buffing pads and alcohol. Just keep some pressure on the wheels but they still turn and clean up. It's quick!! Just an idea lol
I've done just that and am not at all disappointed in my home made track cleaning cars. If you are wanting some entertainment you might want to read through the whole thread. We cover a lot of territory and did it openly and respectfully. With a little fun and ribbing tossed in there for good luck. Thanks for your input.
I've also used it as an electrical contact cleaner to get some shelf queens going again. Again, you don't want to leave it wet, as it will draw dirt, dust, hair and such to it. Quite the dirt magnet. I don't know when the concern over arcing became such an issue. We've always noted it but didn't see it as a problem. Stay cool, and run your railroad.[/QUOTE] That's good advice. We've all been told at one time or another that arcing is the cause of some of the gunk on wheels. But I don't understand how oil will stop arcing. Perhaps there are a couple of EE's out there who can enlinghten me. Arcing is what electricity wants to do. I thought the only thing that could stop it was an insulator, and I don't think we want to have that on our track.
Bill... I'm not trying to ne an A$$ in any way. But my question is. Did you read Joe Fugates article? I'm not all that up on electrical or elelectronics...but even I understood what he reported...and I can say I am inclined to beilieve what he researched and reported. Like always...Rule#1: Its your railroad...run it your way. Respectfully....Thanks
Are we over thinking it? I think not. Perhaps looking for the bigger picture. Well, since I started this thread. Let's just say you be the judge. Summary of sorts. Joe Fugate, is looking at gunk and dirt on the rails from a very old perspective but with a new twist. Yes, I read it. Twice and back tracked a third time to make sure I understood what he presented. Very convincing. As a youngster the guys and gals, plus me, myself and I who played with the larger scale railroads, could actually see the arcing. We weren't particularly concerned about it as this is how electricity travels to jump a gap. Which is what metal wheels on metal track is. Now if you are in HO or N, you don't notice it so much. I've seen track suffer as in burned, a black area on the rails because the current was arcing but the locomotive wasn't moving. More often associated with a short. Lionel was famous for that. What Joe doesn't address is the possibility of oil attracting dirt and the consequences of such. The Environmental Build-up, thing as we cleaning professionals in carpet cleaning and hospital housekeeping circles call it. Look at the edges of your carpet or the dust on your TV screen. Which incidentally has been cultured, lab tested and reveals the contents of such including any harmful pathogens. Not good in most cases. When I had my S scale and a friend operated his O scale, we played with Singer Sewing Machine Oil, Wahl Clipper Oil, and I think a motor oil or two. Of course WD40 wasn't on our horizon or we would have tried it. These oils were supposed to solve our continuity problem. Really? I here you asking. Well, Really!! Can you guess the outcome? We spent more time cleaning the "Environmental Build-up" off the wheels then running trains. Sorry to say. Lighted passenger cars would flicker, lights in locomotives would do the same. Never mind how they stuttered along. Do I dare say we weren't pleased with the results. Track didn't seem to get all that dirty and that's because the collectors of dirt, the wheels did a fine job of it. Requiring us in some cases to scrape the oil embedded dirt off the metal wheels. Joe doesn't address all this or the possibilities of such. I'd say based on my experience, his perspective is incomplete but noteworthy. Worth paying attention to. You are certainly free to try it but be prepared for the consequences. Everything leaves a residual that's Chemistry. Some worse then others. Now, how did I get turned on to Isopropyl Alcohol. My mother a nurse heard our frustration and suggested we use, what else, Isopropyl Alcohol. Then at some point, at about this time in my life, Model Railroader and a wig wag similar to Railroad Modeler put out several track and wheel cleaning articles. Every article different with of course different results. Not so dissimilar to what's happening here. Using Isopropyl Alcohol, I liked the way that turned out. We cleaned the wheels first and then the track. Noting it cleaned up nicely but with some unexpected elbow grease. Did we stink of rubbing alcohol. We were running our trains on carpet and linoleum flooring. Dirtiest place you can find. So in time the dirt managed to file a grievance and find it's way back to it's old home, showing-up on the wheels... again. But it took almost all summer. We didn't think that was to bad. As trains running around in circles on the floor, to moving up onto a layout. Years of maintaining them with the same good results. I've been preaching the benefits of such ever since. Oh, I'm not alone. A good friend reminded me that using a paper towel laid over the track, Isopropyl Alcohol to dampen the towel and running the wheels over it cleans them nicely. Thanks John Acosta. To clean the rails: I do the same with a cleaning car, foam pad on the tracks and IPA dampening it. Followed by my home made Masonite cleaning car. Very pleased and think you will be too. Do Vacuum the layout form time to time. Add an air filter to the room. You should be good to go. Just don't expect your dirty wheel problem to be totally solved, or resolved. Thanks to the light weight greases we use to lube our locomotives, motors and train cars. You'll have to find a workable solvent, to remove the light weight grease, embedded in the dirt, called gunk from time to time. Well best of luck.
I read it and don't entirely understand it, and noted holes. For exzmple,where does one get a stick of graphite? Where I leve we don't have a Graphites are us store. And in my experience Rail Zip is a complete waste of money. And he does reference the dielectric properties for various solvents. The ones he rated highly have the highest, which brings em back to my question, How doe insulating our track help? Perhaps insulating it just a little bit? We are all chasing our tails.
Oil is an insulator and dielectric. High power and/or high voltage capacitors are filled with oil to prevent arcing between the plates.
Well put Bill Pearce. Yes we are! We keep trying the same old things over and over again, expecting different results. You know what that is. Now, it's all about choice. A time to prove it to yourself. Have fun and don't get frustrated, unless you want to.
If you don't understand it entirely how can you say we are chasing our tails? You can use a No. 2 pencil as a graphite stick. Google oil filled capacitor and you'll see what an insulator/direlectric does in this application.
Easy MK, you'll get this thread locked up. Some mod will tire of it and turn the spick-et off. I hate it when they do that. I've made an effort to share all points of view as well as my own. Just give it a go and see what you learn.
I am not crazy enough to believe we will ever absolutely get rid of 'gunk' either on the rails or on the wheels. Can we do something to lessen it ? I'ld like to think so. If a 'non-polar' cleaner will do that...whats the harm ? Joe points out that Wahls @(2.1) and WD40 @(2.4) are good non-polar cleaners...less gunk...thats good. IPA @(18) is a 'polar' cleaner...more gunk....thats bad. As you all are aware..My layout has 2 parallel mains running around the entire layout. I am cleaning one main with IPA and the other with WD40. I always run 2 trains in opposite directions...one on each mainline. They are NOT speed matched by the deoders..BUT...I can speed match them by their throttles. They meet at the same 2 places on the layout every time ! Once in the yard and the other up by the cell tower in the back left corner. Neither train runs more 'laps' then the other. At some unspecified time I will wipe the track in a 'control area' with a clean rag and see how much gunk I have on the rag. At the same time I will use another clean rag and wipe the track of the other main directly next to it and see how much gunk is on that rag. Both mains right next to each other...both trains making the same amount of laps. I dont know how one could get a better controlled experiment then that. It may not even prove one cleaner/treatment is any better then the other. Wont know until they are tested in some sort of controlled fashion. It sounds like a fun and interesting thing to do. "Enquiring minds want to know" All said and done.... It's just a hobby. Nothing more...nothing less. My .02 worth !
