ok, I've been away a while for verious reasons[eagle scout project, school girlfriend, etc(no I didn't do anything to myself, andy)]Any way I've finally got around to ballasting my track, no problems so far, now after I glue the ballast and let it dry I have went over the WHOLE layout with walther's brite-boys, it works pretty good, but still the engines are very jerky, I go over again, and clean everything really good still have that problems, the flanges are not hitting the ballast dso that ain't it. I'm gonna try the clipper oil trick when I get over CVS. Any suggestions???
I always try to get as much wet glue of the rails before it drys. It seems that a big build-up of glue is pretty hard to get off after it has dried. You may need to take a block of wood and a wet red shop rag and go over the rails to re-wet and remove excess glue. Short of that your loco wheels could be dirty. It doesn't take much to cause problems. Good Luck! Warren YOU CAN HAVE MY BAGPIPES ONLY WHEN YOU CAN PRY THEM FROM MY COLD, DEAD LIPS. UNTIL THEN MARCH!
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by A&A 6183: I'm gonna try the clipper oil trick when I get over CVS. Any suggestions??? <hr></blockquote> I dont recommend using oil on the rail heads. Oil attracts dust and causes more problems than solutions.
Better than the Bright Boy by far, is acetone (nail polish remover). Cut a piece of leather off an old belt , douse some nail polish remover on it, seude (rough) side down, and scrub the rails. Works like a charm. For the loco wheels, get a paper towel (say 2" square piece), lay it over the tracks, spray some rubbing alcohol on it, then run your locos over the wet part, holding the back trucks on the rails while the front trucks spin over the alchohol laden paper towel. Then, turn the train around and do the other set of wheels. Say good-bye to jerky train movement. (For more track cleaning tips, check out the HO forum here at Trainboard). Pete
I use an eraser (rubber) the ones for rubbng out ink. These seem to remove any glue off the rails and keeps a nice shine as well.
We in the USAF use Item 42 (for you old 463's out there ) Good old Isopropyl Alcohol. Use it to clean anything, and everything. Works great on metals, and usually does a good job of removing grease, and grime. Also, Goo Gone works well, but you have to dry the rails IMMEDIATELY after cleaning, and wipe w/ alcohol again, or the tracks will gather dust more quickly, adding to the problem. Try that, and lemme know what you think!
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by A&A 6183: ... it works pretty good, but still the engines are very jerky, I go over again, and clean everything really good still have that problems, the flanges are not hitting the ballast dso that ain't it. I'm gonna try the clipper oil trick when I get over CVS. Any suggestions??? <hr></blockquote> Perhaps the problem is the wheels on your locos and not the track. An easy way to clean the wheels on Locos is to put a small piece of cloth (I use J-cloths) with a couple drops of Goo Gone on the cloth across the rails of my test track. I set the front wheels on the cloth and apply power. (Make sure you hold the loco in place.) The wheels get cleaned up in a hurry. Repeat for the back wheels. It's amazing how much crud can accumulate on those loco wheels.
Hi, If you try Acetone, get the stuff from the hardware store. The kind you get at the pharmacy sometimes contain lanolin (sheep skin oil) to make the Acetone less drying on the skin. I found out the hard way when attempting to clean a circuit board of some old Locktite glue. John
