The Great Western Wheel Shop

The tools required to clean the wheels are very simple and inexpensive. The only exotic thing is a piece of cowhide used as a tough work surface with good grip.  I also hand-made a special wheel gauge to make sure the wheels are properly spaced and centered on the axles. The tools needed are a grippy work surface, a small screwdriver, a tongue depressor, a piece of sandpaper, a sacrificial Athearn truck frame and a wheel gauge.  

Here is a set of dirty wheels from my collection.  I’ve noted that as the gunk builds up and gets thicker, it changes the geometry of the wheels and they become prone to derailing, especially on turnouts.  When a car derails, the first thing I check is for dirt on the treads.

The Wheel Lathe

The first step in cleaning the wheels is to use a “lathe” to shave off the majority if the gunk.  I use an old Athearn truck frame to hold the two sets of wheels. The tip of the small screwdriver acts as a gentle cutting tool to chip of the gunk. Hold the tip of the screwdriver against a wheel tread and roll the truck back and forth to shave the gunk off.  I’m using a old piece of linoleum here instead of the leather since it photographs better. The linoleum doesn’t last very long nor is it as grippy as leather but it will work in a pinch. .

The gunk from four wheels makes a nice pile. Quick, off to the analysis lab!

Polishing

Once the big chunks of gunk are off, I use a tongue depressor to get the last bits off and to polish the treads. I use a piece of sandpaper to get a nice square edge on the tongue depressor and to clean it between wheel sets. Tongue depressors tend to be slightly concave so I hold it such that the curvature helps get into the corner of the flange.  Hold the tongue depressor against the tread and roll the truck back and forth under the wood. 

Turn the wood over for the opposite wheel. Note the dirt picked up from the wheel that was just polished. Swap the tongue depressor end for end for the other axle so that each wheel gets polished with a clean edge. Use the sandpaper to clean up the tongue depressor for the next set of wheels.  There may be some “lint” on the treads after polishing.  I use an old toothbrush to remove that.

The Gauge Shop

Before replacing the wheels on a car, check the wheel spacing to ensure they are in gauge. I made a custom tool out of a piece of brass strip to make this process easier. I had standardized on Athearn wheels so the tool was made just for them.

After carefully setting up a “Golden Axle” using an NMRA track gauge and making sure the wheels were perfectly centered on the axle, I use a jeweler’s saw and files to cut the gauge to fit the wheels and axle perfectly.

If the wheels are in gauge and centered, they will fit right in. If not, a quick visual inspection shows where an adjustment is needed. The slots for the wheels are just a smidge wider than the tread so I can feel a very slight side to side motion if the spacing is correct. If I feel a bind, the wheels need adjusting.

Back in Service

The final result is a set of shiny used wheels, perfectly in gauge and ready for use on clean track.  At least until I get around to replacing them with metal wheels.

I like that guage!

I like that guage!

plastic wheels?

Why bother to do all that work then put plastic wheels back on the layout? They will just gunk up again in no time! If you have the car with the wheels out, duh, just replace them with metal and discard the plastic ones forever! Job done ! If we do not learn from the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat them. John Colley, Sonoma, CA

I think his point is in being

I think his point is in being able to run cars with the newer wheel sets along with cars which have not been updated with steel wheels.

Swapping wheel sets on 200 cars is not inexpensive, as he mentioned. I'm sure he's anxious to purchase new wheel sets for the remaining cars, but sometimes the budget can't handle the expense.

I really like the wheel gauge he made!

I use rubbing alcohol

I used isopropel alcohol 72% on plastic wheels before I saved enough to buy metal wheel sets.  I just poured the alcohol into a small bowl, and let the wheels sets soak for a few minutes.  I then pulled the wheels sets out one at a time and cleaned the wheel treads using a small screwdriver much as you show.  The alcohol softened the black gunk so that it came off easily.  I did not find it necessary to polish the treads with anything else after cleaning.  There was no sign of small pieces of the black gunk left after cleaning with the screw driver.

I wiped the wheels sets clean with either a paper towel or old "T" shirt to dry them after cleaning and put them back in service.  I think at this time all of my rolling stock has metal wheel sets except for a couple of cabooses that I have not cleaned, yet.

YES...Plastic wheels

If plastic wheels pick up gunk off the track, wouldn't that be a great way to actually help keep the rails clean?

Perhaps the MOW train should be all plastic wheels.

John

Dremel

I don’t recall where I saw this tip, but use the round plastic polishing brush that comes with most Drexel tool sets. Put it in your Dremel and run it against the wheel treads, it will spin off most of that gunk. (Of course it also sprays the gunk everywhere, so do it out in the garage!)

I have an unproven theory that plastic wheels attract the dust that is around the layout and that is what causes this black gunk build up. My theory goes that running one car with plastic wheels might actually help by acting as a “vacuum” and attracting all the dust from the track. Haven’t come up with a way to test that idea yet!

Cleaning Wheels

Before you clean wheels, first clean the track.  Make sure the wheels on the locomotive are clean, spotless clean.  If you run Broadway Limited steamers that use smoke, double clean.  For cleaning of the wheels, isopropel 70% or a little better, 92% will do the job.  Q-tips, not the store branded ones, but the real Q-tips brand work best.  They don't leave fibers behind.  The best value on those, Costco.  I also do one other thing.  I have a three foot piece of track on a piece of wood.  I then use a paper towel rough side up.   Costco branded or Brawney towels are best.  Don't save a few nickels on cheap Walmart or other store branded towels, they shed and can make a mess of things, I run the car back and forth on the towel and gently but firmly, apply pressure on the car to rub the wheels a little tighter against the rail wall.  Wheels also stay cleaner a little longer if they move free.  Make sure the wheels move as free of friction as possible.  Can't get the wheels to move freely in the truck, try a different truck.  Intermountain wheels or Athern wheels work best for me.  Sometimes, Kaydee's wheels work well depending on the truck.  Kaydee's look the best.

Black gunk

The black gunk has been chemically analyzed by a modeler who is also a chemist.

It consists of mostly: metal oxides, dust, and oil residue — in that order.

But it’s mostly metal oxides that form from micro-arcing when you run trains.

Essentially, a micro-arc “fires tiny lightning-like energy” at the metals in the rail and wheels, combining the metal alloy molecules with oxygen, and exploding the molecules off into a non-conducting gray-black oxide coating that builds up on the rails and wheels.

Dust and oil residue also get attracted to the electrically charged rails and wheels. Blame the electricity in the rails for most of the black gunk, in other words. If the rails were not powered, all we would get is a little dust for the most part, with maybe a little cleaning solvent or oil residue.

Avoid Isopropyl alcohol

Joe, it sounds like the solution is "Dead Rail."

Just kidding.  I think it would be the solution and I thought of using my dummy "B" units as battery cars to operate A-B-B-A sets of F units on a modular layout in HO until I realized that if someone opened our access gate at the wrong time the kill switches that stop trains a few feet from the gate would not affect my battery powered trains at all.

RE: Avoid Isopropyl alcohol

Joe,

 What does La Mesa club use to clean track and wheels? What do you recommend? Or should I say what do you use?

Richard Webster

Plastic Wheels - Don't Use Them

Plastic wheels are going to cause problems with dirt collection to the wheel tread.  They are considered tribogenerators, where electrons are stripped off the plastic while the wheels roll down the rails.  This effectively makes them capacitors with a positive charge.  This charge attracts the dirt around your railroad.  The longer you run plastic wheels, the more often you will have to clean the gunk collected on the wheels.  It's not going to change.

Replace all your wheelsets with metal wheels.  There are many benefits:  1) they will not generate a charge and therefore won't collect dirt, 2) they are heavier and will lower the center of gravity of your rolling stock, making them track better and stay on the rails better, 3) they are easier to adjust to the proper gauge and will stay in gauge.  Plastic wheels may not be in gauge and may not be adjustable to the proper gauge, and 4) the metal wheels make a nice "clickity-clack" as they pass across rail joints.

Once I changed mine, I NEVER use plastic wheels and seldom clean the track.  I never have to clean the wheels on the rolling stock or engines.

What do I use to clean wheels with?

Here's what the La Mesa guys say:

Here's a video of the La Mesa track cleaning consist in action:

I'm also going to try the Woodland Scenics Roto Wheel cleaner. It's a no-solvent system and it looks like it will work well if the wheels are no more than moderately dirty -- so it's a good routine maintenance solution. Here is a video by James Wright discussing the system - he seems quite pleased with it.

For quick non-solvent cleaning of the rails, I use a cratex block from Travers.com: 
https://www.travers.com/blocks-stick/p/53-700-384

I cut it into 3 pieces, as shown in this video:

Joe, Does mineral spirits

Joe, Does mineral spirits affect plastic or ballast glue?

Plastic Wheels themselves as Culprits

I always thought that perhaps the plastic wheels themselves that were the culprits of dirtying up our rails??

Mineral spirits

Not that I have ever seen. You don't slather it on, you use a small amount on the railhead to clean with - either on a Q-tip or in a CMX car damp cleaning pad. If you get any on the ties or ballast, it's a drop here or a drop there, and that doesn't do squat to the ties or ballast.

Nope, it's the micro-arcing

Nope, it's the electrical micro-arcing between the loco wheels and the rails, although plastic wheels seem to do a better job of collecting and redistributing this black gunk around the track than metal wheels do! (ornery wink)

MOW Train

John, I just love your idea!   All I need to do now is to put Kadee couplers on the car!   Thank You!   Former sec./treas.  Midwest Valley Modelers railroad club...St. Louis,Mo.

Cleaning Wheels---

I've used "GOO GONE" on a Q-tip to remove the dirt build up. Put the car upside down in your foam cradle, turn the wheels on one side with your thumb, and hold the Q-tip against the wheel on the other side. Even if it doesn't get it all off, it softens it up, and makes it easier to scrape off with a piece of wood skewer, ground on a angle.

I've also used Goo Gone on a small piece of paper towel, laid across the rails, then run one truck of your locomotive over it at a time, turn the throttle up, and let the wheels spin. You be amazed that even if they look clean, how much the paper towel with end up with "black" streaks from the wheels! 

JWB

How to Clean Wheels - MRH 2015-09

Here’s the short article and video that I did a few years ago:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/magazine-feedback-was-ezines-891776

Woodland Scenics Cleaner

I have one of those Woodland Scenics wheel cleaners, it works, sort of. I sometimes use some acetone with it otherwise it doesn’t work that well. I do take it with me to shows to use if the wheels start to get dirty while running, and I need a quick fix, but I never use it at home, it doesn’t really clean that thoroughly.

That’s what I figured

That's what I figured ... more of a quick stop-gap kind of cleanup tool rather than the be-all end-all. Handy to have for light wheel cleanup on-the-fly but for the most thorough cleanup, nothing beats using solvents like ethyl acetate or mineral spirits on a paper towel over the rails.

By the way, acetone is a strong polar solvent, and your loco wheels will get dirty quicker using it. Mineral spirits (non-polar) or ethyl acetate (low polar) is a better choice for a solvent. Strong polar solvents are not recommended for cleaning anything that’s electrical because they attract dust and encourage micro-arcing afterwards.

Agree to Dis-Agree

Joe, I am going to agree to dis-agree on this one. My testing found Varsol to be the best cleaner, acetone was a close second, rubbing alcohol much inferior. Have never tried ethyl acetate. I suspect that there is a lot of variation in what is sold as “mineral spirits” so results might vary. Acetone is so volatile that it all evaporates in short order so nothing much is left behind.

Of course treating the rails with graphite eliminates most of the problems with dirty wheels and track.