I have been unable to fully clean off the residue of Elmer's glue (assuming that is what it is) off the track that has changed the appearance from bright Nickle Silver to a 'brass' look causing poor electrical contact. Apparent when looking at track that hasn't been ballasted. I've used a non abrasive 'track erasure' and Mineral Spirits to no avail. Any ideas? I have ordered two different abrasive track cleaners, one being Pecos.
If its dried Elmer's I can usually get it off the top of the rail by rubbing along it hard with my fingernail or with hard wood like a popsickle stick.
Try a Scotch-Brite pad, slightly moist. The moisture will soften the Elmer's and the pad will absorb the residue. Of course, this assumes you used Elmer's or similar water soluble adhesive.
Yes, it is dried Elmer's. There doesn't appear to be a 'crust' at all. How about the discoloring? BTW, Elmer's is about as safe as one gets.
I can't address discoloration. Elmer's, being milk-based, might be slightly acidic. So, it's possible you're seeing a minor chemical reaction with the rail material. Though, I haven't seen any problems with all the ballasting I've done, at home and at the museum with Peco, Shinohara, Kato, and Bachmann track. Is it possible you used another chemical earlier when you installed or cleaned the track?
I'm still trying to figure out how you got glue on the top of the rail when ballasting. Also, the yellow discoloration seems odd. Did you use Elmer's white glue or the yellow wood glue? The white glue is easily dissolved in water but the yellow glue is not.
What I have been doing after painting track and after ballasting is to scrape along the rails with a razor blade as a first pass followed by a track rubber then an application of NO-OX.
Try PineSol, rub some on it and let it set for a few minutes. It works to safely strip most paints without hurting plastic.
Some WD40 on a rag. If it takes tar etc. off a car without hurting it it will work to clean rail. That and the dielectric constant of WD40 is low enough to compete with most rail cleaning/treatment solutions.
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It was sprayed on. Too many tracks too close together to 'dribble it on'. I saw it successfully done (in HO) and copied his method. Yes it was white glue. Left side no ballast, right side ballast; The yard in question is on the right;
I used Mineral Spirits, no lubrication involved to clean off. I saw that list some time ago and found it interesting what NOT to use!
I prepped it with 'wet water' (IPA & water). The glue had some IPA mixed in (maybe 15%) also instead of dish soap.