Track Cleaning

Track Cleaning Experiments

In 55 years of HO modeling I've tried several of the track cleaning methods mentioned.  Wahl hair clipper oil has been the answer for me. I spread it using an old Ulrich track cleaning car followed by 3 or 4 cars with masonite pads under them. The rough side of the masonite rides on the rail heads and is kept in place by it's own weight. A couple of small nails krazy-glued to the pads ride in two small holes in the car floor and hold the pads in place. The pads need to be cleaned or replaced periodically as they pick up the black gunk which plagues all of us.

Brass track in hidden staging loops has remained problem free for many years and wheels no longer need cleaning.

Wahl oil is avaialble in a few hobby shops or your barber can usually get it for you.

Doug Hately

Bowmanville Ontario Canada

Clipper Oil

I ran on a layout recently and my loco was having some pickup problems. The owner of the layout applied some clipper oil and the problems stopped immediately.

When I got home, I cleaned my loco wheels as I plan to try grphite, but so far, my layout has no pickup problems, since I added wipers to my Kato SD40-2's.

First Wahl Oil, you don't

First Wahl Oil, you don't need an "in" with a barber, this product or its equivalent is sold in places like Pet Smart where dog clippers are sold.  Don't get hung up on brand name, Oster is another popular oil for clippers out there.

Here's some propoganda from Pet Smart about Oster lubricating oil:

http://www.petsmart.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/PETNA-PETCA-Site/en_CA/-/CAD/ViewProduct-Start?CategoryName=100304&CatalogName=36&SKU=36-5159906

My one question is about the latest fad for graphite, I can't help think that graphite used over the years, I'm not talking one or two years, but more like ten or twenty years, is going to end up in the interior of engines doing what.... I don't know.  Interested in comments about this issue... or is it an issue?

I have never bought into the scratched track theory, I have roughly a hundred gapped tracks on my layout and I've not had pick up problems in those areas, usually some where else.  And to me a gap is just a giant scratch. But I also don't buy into the "sand the track and beat it up once" test.  I would say treat this track maybe once a month for the next three years, then get back to us.  Some would argue its the long term scratching that is an issue: maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

Graphite

is my current test bed and plan to stick with it for the foreseeable future until I notice a potential problem.  As for it getting into the engines, I just can't see it.  It isn't "powdered" like you use to lube your couplers or locks or whatever.  You are actually "smearing" it on the track.  It isn't flaky powder all over that is going to get sucked into the motor.  It will lightly coat the wheels and get on the wiper, but after that, it doesn't really have anywhere else to go.  I just don't see how it gets into the motor unless you are really using a heavy amount all the time.  As others have said, it takes very little.

Oil, graphite, etc

My working theory for the oil and graphite methods of track application is that they both reduce micro-arcing. Essentially what happens is the contact point of the wheel and the rail micro-arc as the loco rolls along, and the electrical arc blasts a few metal molecules in both the track and the wheels, causing a chemical reaction that converts the metal to oxide.

Most wheels are some alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc - and when this alloy oxidzes, it forms a black powder that is a poor conductor.

If you can reduce this micro-arcing, then things stay cleaner and run longer without issue.

One concept that seems to apply is making sure the track is not bone-dry - which is why the clipper oil works. So does applying a very thin coat of mineral spirits, as well as using a conductive lubricant.

Like the way static electricity really kicks up in low humanity, it appears the slightly wet rail and wheels (with some light lubricant) arcs a lot less and the black oxides form a lot more slowly.

Graphite appears to work similarly, and in fact may be superior because it's not a "wet" layer that could attract other contaminants like dust or other residue.

Graphite is used as motor brushes because it *arcs a lot less* than copper brushes do, and the motor runs a lot smoother. Herein may be the key: graphite reduces micro-arcing on the wheel-to-rail interface just like it does as motor brushes.

Both oil and graphite may lower rail adhesion and cause more slippage, but I would expect graphite (done as a very thin layer that's not even visible) to not affect wheel adhesion as much as oil. Graphite in very thin layers forms a structure that can also lock with other graphite molecules rather than slip, just depending on the orientation of the micro-layers. So graphite micro-layers could be a wash on rail adhesion.

Science is finding a lot of very interesting new uses for very thin layers of graphite - just Google "Graphene" and be amazed. One very interesting property - graphene is a room-temperature superconductor.

Track cleaning

USE the CRC 2-26 spray conductive lubricant. It is just a combination of TV tuner cleaner and a lubricant, often used to join dissimilar metals in electrical junction boxes. Available in the electrical department of most Home Depot stores for about $2.95. One can lasts a long time. Use sparingly to clean tracks. Also use on both mechanisms and pick-up wheels, sliders and brushes. To clean a loco's wheels, place clean paper towel on the track, spray some CRC 2-26  on the rail marks and run the loco (either one end and then the other, or with jumpers). Even hardened black gunk will just peel away. Excellent for N scale through G scale. Especially effective outside for G scale rail subject to elements. Then use the old tried and true masonite slider under a boxcar to continuously keep your rails polished.

20+ year Graphite testing

(And rest assured, I have been diligently and continuously looking for them... ).

Happy Modelling,

Nothing wrong with a good fad

Nothing wrong with a good fad which if it hangs around often morphs into a new life.  First the fad of crystal radios (I'm dating my self here....lol), then transistor radios, then portable strap on tape players, then cd players, then on to Ipods, then to sound in phones, then smart phones.....etc....  

If something works well, then I'll vote for it.  I haven't been in the hobby that long, in my group I'm still considered a newbie even though I've been with the group for 17 years. But I have read more "great" ways to clean track, probably as many ways as you have read.  Slowly over time as I have participated in religious battles such as stranded versus solid, DC/DCC campaigns, zip texturing in & zip texturing out, single deck versus multiple deck versus mushroom, and on and on.... I'm just a little dubious until proven otherwise that a technique truly does work, first there was DCC friendly turnouts and how to make them, now just put the da.... thing in and see what happens.

So I am reluctant to add graphite to my nolix (modified helix) area as how will the graphite affect my 2.2% grades.

Covered, see above

and teamed with sufficent torque = haulage capability/"drawbar-pull". However, that same friction (+ gravity) is a significant proportion of the "load" your locos are having to drag up the helix... (Shades of prototype "flange oiler"/"greaser" behaviour? ).

Oil and Graphite

I indicated in the article that when I tried oil on the rails, and I don't think it really matters what type of oil you use from Clipper oil to automatic transmission fluid, the result was a short term improvement in performance followed by a rather sudden "failure" roughly 5 weeks later. By "failure" I mean that locomotives would start stalling all over the place on the layout and I would have to stop everything and do a full track cleaning before I could continue running trains. 

I haven't been able to locate the CRC electronic cleaner product so I can't comment on it. It isn't sold at the Home Depots here.

Graphite would be the thing that I would recommend for most people, the No-Ox was slightly better in my testing, but graphite is cheaper and much more easily obtainable, but as in all things, I suggested testing it on a short section first to make sure you don't have any traction issues. Since the motor already contains graphite in the form of the motor brushes, getting a little more into the motor isn't going to hurt anything and since graphite is a lubricant getting it into the gears is only going to help not hurt. In any case, you use so little that it would take much longer than my lifespan to ever accumulate a noticeable amount inside a locomotive.

The reason that I went with the No-Ox was that I had to buy several lifetime supplies of the stuff (3 small tins) off Ebay to get some for testing. So, since I have so much of it, I might as well use it! Otherwise I would have stuck with the Graphite. I have noted that the No-Ox is slipperier than the graphite, so that might be a consideration.

I do suspect that there are some environmental factors at work here. Some people have reported great success with the Clipper oil, but in my basement it is not effective. In a dry and dusty environment the Graphite and No-Ox worked the best. I do suspect that the lubricating properties of both of these come into play, maybe the dirt just doesn't stick to the rails that have been treated??

Brent Ciccone

Calgary

Track cleaning could be a thing of the past

Hi all,

here is my experience, take it or leave it as you see fit.

For over 12 months, my layout is stored folded in an open room with NO dustcover. It had last run with graphite in an OPEN FRONTED hangar see below before it was stored. It ran for just 7 hours with no major conductivity problems that could not be fixed by the odd swipe of graphite during the day. It was not dusted before being stored.

This photo is from 2013. The layout operated within 20' of where this  photo was taken in 2010, 2011 and 2012 before this outing in 2013.  Operating conditions really can't get much worse - open air, a large concrete apron with open grass beyond behind me and several thousand people tramping past the layout, kicking up dust. 

Before each of these outings, the track and surrounds were dusted off with a soft brush, the layout was assembled, the motor bearings of the locos got a light lube and that was the sum total of preparation. The locos were placed on their respective tracks (2 point-to-point and 1 on the circuit run), power was applied and all 3 locos worked with NO hesitation.  The layout was given a 1/2 hour run, then packed for transport. On arrival at the display site, the layout was set up in under 30 minutes and trains were rolling with no further dusting/track cleaning being needed for the rest of the operating day.

If you think about it, this is probably  the worst conditions for layout storage in as far as rail oxidation/ dust collection goes. Yet this layout has worked faultlessly, not just once, but over a period of several years after graphite was applied. I have already posted this picture previously that shows the condition of the wheel treads under one of the passenger cars. This passenger car has not had its wheels cleaned for over 4 years.

For me, the jury is in and the verdict has been delivered.

Clean the track and the wheels of your locos and wagons very well ONCE, apply graphite and run your trains. The more you run your trains the better and smoother your performance gets with graphite. Have a hesitation with a loco? Then apply a swipe of graphite to both rails for about 6" (150 mm) either side of where the hesitation occurred and and I'll bet that the loco won't hesitate there next lap. If it does, then I'd be then looking for other problems inside the loco, because the problem will not be electrical conductivity at the wheel/rail interface.   

graphite

Excellent summary

Definitely some thought provoking results.  This is the first document I have seen to record failures with graphite.  Others talk about more local issues. 

Questions I would ask are:

How often are your running your trains. Are you running the same amount through out the year or are you running a lot during a few weeks and then a lot of down time. 

Are you running DCC.  I don't remember the article stating a particular control system.   

Thanks for taking the time to gather the information,

Larry

Track Cleaning and Oxidation - Black Gunk

The author and several of the responders experiences match those of my own.  I too have concluded that the black gunk is dust.  Fine particles of human cells, etc. that are burned in the micro arching of the locomotives create that stuff.  I use a tiny bit of Label 108 on the rails to help reduce the arching.  My experience with Wahl Clipper Oil is generally positive, but I find it breaks down faster than the 108, and becomes the glue in the black gunk.  

I have also found that vacuuming the track periodically reduces the dust on the rails and prevents the build up of the gunk.

With regard to abrasion, I have found no corollary between dirt build up ad scratching the rail with an abrasive.  The contact area is so small between the rail and the locomotive wheel, that any scratches seem to have no affect.  In fact, the scratches might provide a  place for the gunk to move to, out of the contact area.

Nice article.

Bill Neale, MMR

Why do we keep trying to solve problems...

...that were already solved long ago?  I have no experience with graphite but we just had a poster say that it was used more than fifty years ago and by all accounts it still works. In my own experience NO-OX is the answer and it's use was first brought to light by none other than Linn Wescott sometime back in the 1950's.  Of all the things I worry about on my layout, how to keep track clean is not one of them. I just clean it after scenery, NO-OX it and forget it.

Michael

Rail Composition

I much appreciated Brent Ciccone's article on track cleaning. His little side comment, stating what "nickel silver" rail really is, raises a question: The "nickel silver" rail I buy here in the UK has a slight golden tinge to it and gradually tarnishes over time.  I used to have a (genuine) nickel silver spatula for mixing up photographic chemicals. This never tarnished and was a true silver in colour.  Also, electro-plated nickel silver cutlery doesn't tarnish and likewise stays a silver colour.  By contrast, I find my "nickel silver" rail somewhat unrealistic in its colouring; I have resorted to  electroplating the running surface with chromium.  Why don't the manufacturers supply a true untarnishing silver track? - Graham.

Probably because...

a non-tarnishing nickel-silver alloy doesn't go through the extrusion dies as well as the alloy that is used for our rails? 

Professor, how about N scale?

Should work fine...

Dear Paul,

No particular issues beyond the general rules.
I've used graphite exclusively on all of my layouts, inc HOn30 and some very early N-scale efforts,
with no issues to speak of...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Those aren't Fads

"Nothing wrong with a good fad which if it hangs around often morphs into a new life.  First the fad of crystal radios (I'm dating my self here....lol), then transistor radios, then portable strap on tape players, then cd players, then on to Ipods, then to sound in phones, then smart phones.....etc....  "

Those aren't fads, that's product evolution. The constant tweaking and tuning, and the application of newer parts which upgrade and improve the existing product.

The Pet Rock was a fad. How many people have Pet Rocks today ? 

John

Low Humanity

 Like the way static electricity really kicks up in low humanity

More true than you know!

John

Thanks, Professor

. . .I think now it's worth a try.

LOW HUMANITY: I had to work very hard to leave that one alone.

N scale