Technical Corner

TRACK CLEANING AND MORE

The subject of track cleaning probably provokes more discussion than any other subject in the model railroad hobby.  The internet adds an entirely new dimension because the variables of climate let those of us in the dry mountain west discuss the issue with modelers on both coasts as well as in the Midwest or Southeast or on the Gulf of Mexico.  Only last December Laurie McLean in Australia was going on about oily black muck on rails!  The issue has probably been around since the first electric train set, and is repeatedly discussed the world over.  What to do when a dirty spot or streak of rail develops?

The common cure, for generations of modelers, was the abrasive track cleaning rubber thing.  I never really cared for those old hard rubber track cleaners, they were little more than re-purposed typewriter erasers.  They scrubbed ink off the typing paper, often by going right past the ink and rubbing a hole in the paper!  When used to ‘clean’ model railroad track the abrasive scratched the rail as it took off the crud.  There is little doubt that they were aggressive, they had to be to get the occasional green corrosion off the brass track from long ago.  The somewhat gentler track scrubbers now available are not much different.  One of the newer cleaning blocks is seen in photo 1.   

 PHOTO #1

The abrasive may be a bit finer, but they still scratch the rail.  They scratch the rail and they leave bits of the soft rubber and abrasive along and on the track.  Abrasive left on the running surface of the rail may be picked up by passing wheels and carried around the layout.  The ‘rubber’ material is softer, probably a modern synthetic.  One fellow, when chided about scratching the rail, said “Das ist lächerlich; Das Neusilber ist zu hart, zu kratzen.”  OK, what the un-named modeler really said was “That is ridiculous; the nickel silver is too hard to scratch.”

The days of brass track are long past.  Very few modelers use brass rail now, especially since code 83 and smaller rail sizes have become popular.  Nickel silver does not corrode like brass and there is no need for an abrasive thing that scratches the rail.  The scratches in the rail collect muck & gunk and more scratches will not make the muck & gunk go away.  The oily black muck & gunk needs to be wiped away, and without scratching the rail in the process.   Years ago I would cut small pieces of wood, about one half inch square and a couple inches long.  I used the edges of the wood block to wipe the rail and leave it clean.  The wooden blocks were a bother, but they did wipe the crud off the rail without scratching it.  The concept of wiping the crud off the rail was validated, but a better medium was necessary. 

 I considered several things.  First was a folded cloth, but it snagged and was unwieldy.  I thought that folding it would allow for refolding to expose clean surfaces but that didnot work.  The darned thing would not stay folded and tying it up with string defeated the idea of conveniently refolding it to get a clean surface.  The cloth pad also scraped on the ballast and everything close to the track because it was too wide, and too soft.  Heavy felt was found, in thickness of about ¼ inch.  Cutting this into strips worked reasonable well for wiping the track.  The problem with the felt was that it came apart after a bit of usage, especially when attempting to scrape the collected muck off of it.  Oh well, it seemed that I would not find anything that would replace the form factor of the abrasive Bright Boy cleaner but without the scratching stuff imbedded in it.

 And then one day I happened to wander into a Tandy Leather Company store.  I had no real reason to be there, it was just there and I went in.  Never pass up an opportunity to go into a place where craft things are sold.  The type of craft is not important; there is good stuff in all craft work.  After some strolling around and looking at various tools, lots of nice pieces of heavy leather caught my eye.  The leather was natural, not dyed, and a little more than 1/8 inch thick.  The clerk looked at me with a quizzical expression as I rubbed the piece of leather back and forth on the countertop.  I had found what would become my replacement for the ubiquitous Bright Boy track cleaner, without the scratchy stuff!

I bought a piece of the heavy leather from the small projects/remnant bin, and excitedly took it home.  I experimented with the leather, and found that it would, if used with the ‘flesh’ side on the track, wipe the muck off of the rail.  And, requirement number one, it did not scratch the rail!  When it got a bit dirty, a simple scraping of the muck into the dust bin and it was ready to go again.  Don Willhoit and I used the leather track cleaners on the Denver HO Club HOn3 layout.  We concluded that they were entirely acceptable for getting rid of the muck and even had tactile feedback to say when the track was wiped clean.  The resistance to rubbing along the direction of the rail changes when the muck on the rail has been collected by the leather!  The width of the leather was made comfortably wider than the track gauge, but not so wide as to overhang the rail excessively and snag on scenery elements close to the track.  The length was made long enough to hold onto while wiping the rails.  Never put any oil or solvent on the leather.  I once put some denatured alcohol on one of my leather cleaners and it was ruined.

 PHOTO #2

Photo #2 shows the leather cleaner in use on HO standard gauge rail.

  PHOTO #3

For HOn3 or N scale, the smaller width leaves only enough space for just the index finger, as in photo #3. 

PHOTO #4

The three principle sizes are shown in photo #4.  They are all 2-1/4 inches long.  The HO standard gauge cleaner is 1 inch wide, the HOn3 cleaner is ¾ inch wide and the N scale cleaner is 5/8 inch wide.  Make a lot of them, each operator should be given one and they should be located around the layout for ready access when required.

 The leather track cleaner is a replacement for the abrasive track rubbers.  It is not a do-all to be-all, sometimes a solvent is necessary.  Solvents are required for cleaning locomotive and rolling stock wheels.  After solvent based track cleaning, a passivation liquid or compound is often applied to the rails.  The hobby has had a continuing line of various products over the years.  Some of these products are quite expensive, some seem to harken from the patent medicine days of Doc Holiday and the OK Corral.  One popular product sells for $3.75+ per ounce, which is more than $475.00 per gallon!

 Track Cleaning and more is the title for this article.  Now it is time for the “more” part.

 I hope that many of you along the Front Range have seen my switching layout, HILLTOP STATION at Rail in the Rockies.  I built the inglenook switching puzzle layout for the 2006 RitR and it has been there every year since.  HILLTOP STATION has been to the Boulder MRC show twice.  We also visited Milliken, CO twice as well, to help them celebrate their centennial.  Hilltop Station is shown in photo #5.

 PHOTO #5

The set up and operation of HILLTOP STATION is simple.  1) Open the case and connect the power.  2) Clean the track and the wheels of the Atlas S2 locomotive that has been used since 2006.  3) Apply LPS1, or CRC 2-26, or Rail Zip, or Conducta Lube, or the magic elixir of the day.  4) Put cars on layout and other materials for display and operation.  If step three was not followed, then the locomotive began to stutter and stall by about noon on Saturday.  With one of the magic elixirs on the track, operation was fine for the entire weekend.  That changed with Rails in the Rockies 2012.

 It was early February, 2012, preparation time for Rails in the Rockies.  Some time before that I had read about polishing rail and eliminating track cleaning. Well, I have upwards of 60 years of gathering ‘stuff’ and that included quite a variety of abrasive papers and even laser printer optical drum refinishing material.  So, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Out came 600, 800, 1,000, and 1,200 grit wet-or-dry sand papers and the super fine optical drum polishing cloth.  I worked the code 70 SHINOHARA rails of HILLTOP STATION starting with 600 grit paper and ending with the optical polishing cloth.  I used one of my leather track cleaners to ‘back up’ the abrasives.  I cleaned up and closed up the layout for the trip to Estes Park.  When RitR came along a few days later, we set up on Friday afternoon.  I did not clean anything, and did not apply any of my several magic elixirs.  Saturday morning came and show visitors operated HILLTOP STATION all day long.  The show opened Sunday morning and more of the same stutter & stall free operation ensued.  We packed up Sunday evening and went to downtown Estes for dinner.  I could hardly accept what I had seen, operation for two full show days without track cleaning or added track fluid of any sort.

 Then came December 2012 and the Boulder Model Railroad Club show at the Boulder County fairgrounds in Longmont.  Well why not?  Opened HILLTOP STATION and went right to operation with no track cleaning or magic elixir.  Sunday evening came and we packed up after another enjoyable show. And, another two full days of operation on the far from clean concrete floor of the Boulder County fairgrounds exhibit building.  The Boulder MRC annual show was another ‘gee whiz’ event to add to the previous experience at Rails in the Rockies.

 And then there was Rails in the Rockies 2013.  Just like the BMRC show, I just opened up and went to operations with not the least attention to locomotive wheel or track cleaning.  As the weekend progressed, I waited for HILLTOP STATION operations to stutter & stall.  Sunday evening came, and I had a secret that was hard to contain.  I had witnessed six operating days over a year’s time, and without cleaning or doctoring anything.  I had not told anyone anything about my quiet experiment, and was not about to either.  Talking about something like this, especially at my age, might not be too smart.  Well, I have done it.  The secret of track polishing on HILLTOP STATION is out.

 I do not know what to say about what was altered in the wheel to rail interface, but know the result was six days of operation without cleaning.  Also that the previous experience was that the locomotive wheels and track had to be cleaned and track treatment added before each weekend exhibition. 

 Look for HILLTOP STATION at the next Boulder Model Railroad Club show this December or at Rails in the Rockies in February of 2014.  I will be happy to talk about leather track cleaners and rail polishing or whatever turns your crank.  It will be interesting to find out when the locomotive wheels or track have to be cleaned again.

 For more on the subject, have a look at  http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/212742.aspx