I've had good luck with the gleam process on my layout, but I'm curious - if I use a small amount of metal polish some time after treating the rails with No-Ox-Id, will that remove the treated layer and leave it as if I hadn't treated it in the first place?
Almost certainly. Or, at least, quite possibly. It depends on what's left behind by the first product, and whether-or-not something in the second will lift it, or dissolve it and leave it to be taken up by whatever you're using to remove the polish or to buff.