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+--- Thread: Track cleaning (/showthread.php?tid=233)
Track cleaning - railroader9731 - 12-17-2008
I dont know how many of you have thought or tried this but here it goes. During my switching run tonight i found the track was a tad dirty and made the loco chug here and there. So i hot glued a piece of road bed (1.5 inches wide) to a stick and used it to clean the track, worked for me and inexspensive too.
Re: Track cleaning - LynnB - 01-04-2009
Yep a friend of mine does that and with proper length of stick its easy to not detroy anything.
Re: Track cleaning - TinGoat - 01-09-2009
Hi Gang,
I just posted this on another thread, but it's worth repeating here
Once you are done cleaning the rails, use a "2B" hardness sketching pencil or graphite stick to rub onto the rails.
It is a semi-conductor that will give you good reliable electrical pick-up.
As a fine dry lubricant it resists dirt and gunk from building up on the rials.
It's not too slippery, so it doesn't effect traction.
It fills in all the tiny/microscopic scratches in the rail so that dirt and gunk doesn't get stuck.
It lasts a long time.
Buy a six pack and hand them out to your friends!
We've coated the rails on all of our layouts and the Whole Narrow Gauge Madness Gang has had reliable operations on our mini/micro/modules...
A quick rub with a soft rag and another dash of graphite is all you need to maintain the rails.
It's great on Brass and Steel rail to protect against oxidization and helps keep them clean....
It just takes a little Graphite rubbed on top and inside edges of the rails...
Then sit back, relax and enjoy running your trains!
Re: Track cleaning - Biased turkey - 01-16-2009
I too use cork for track cleaning but the "raw material" come from a different source: After opening a bottle of wine I cut the cork stopper lenghtwise so it has a flat surface.
To TinGoat: I've never heard about cleaning track with graphite before. It makes sense and I'll give it a try.
As an electrical/electronic technician I'm familiar with graphite brushes used on the collector of DC motors and generators .
Jacques