cleaning old Marklin K track

I've inherited a Marklin K setup. The metal parts of the track are oxidized (covered in white powder, plating is Zn? Sn?) and don't make good electrical contact. What can I do to clean up the track?
A previous posting on this n.g. suggested MAAS, available in Walmart for cleaning wheels. Is liquid wrench OK? (good for iron, but I don't know what it does on the plating on the K track).
Alternately I was thinking of brushing on ammonia or vinegar with a tooth brush.
Thanks Joe

The original Maerklin K-track had anodised rolled sheet iron rails - that stuff isn't worth reviving as if you take the coating off it rusts.
The second series was a not great quality grade of stainless steel solid rail. You can polish that to your heart's content.
The rail joiners/fishplates aren't particularly good quality and any lost or bent ones can be replaced with Atlas Code 100 joiners. The Ma fishplates can cause poor current transfer. The Ma ones are retained by a bent tag at the inner end so replacements won't always be on the correct rail end when you take the track sections apart. To take Ma fishplates off the track sections, grasp the fishplate with large electrical pliers across the fishplate as close to the rail end as possible. Now roll the pliers up and over the end of the rail for leverage and the Ma fishplate will slide out. Afterwards it will look like a flat metal "C" - never mind, it was useless anyway.
At the ends of the sleepers are copper fingers which go one up-one down under each rail to link the center studs electrically. Make sure those aren't mangled. The amount of upward and downward bend is just sufficient so that the fingers slide over each other and make firm rubbing contact. If you rely solely on the contacts to pass current on a permanent layout you will be disappointed as they require the rubbing from frequent dismantling and reassembly to stay unoxidised.
Regards, Greg.P.
mack wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  

Greg Procter wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
thanks. Seems like you've dealt with this before :-)
This stuff is from the early '60's and has been stored in a dry attic for the last 35yrs. I would imagine I could tell the difference between these two metals by looking, but I can't. I'll put some steelo to it to see what it might be.
  Quoted Text Here  
Can see this coming up.
  Quoted Text Here  
had wondered what they were about. I only just found out a few minutes ago that these are a 3-rail system. I couldn't figure out why both rails were connected. I thought there must have been a short.
  Quoted Text Here  
OK you need good fishplates too. The copper tabs are quite dark.
Thanks Joe

mack wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
Yes - I moved from K-track to Peco with my own stud added and then to two rail when I bought a lathe.
  Quoted Text Here  
Wave a magnet at it - the soft iron rail will stick like it's life depended on it while the stainless steel will have a mild attraction.
  Quoted Text Here  
I'm sure the material altered at regular intervals - why they didn't go for phosphor-bronze right from the start ...
  Quoted Text Here  

Greg Procter wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
everyone should have a lathe
  Quoted Text Here  
of course doh! they're iron :-(
(I have some stainless screws as a control).
  Quoted Text Here  
found these with google
  Quoted Text Here  
didn't find Ma fishplates. google comes up with
www.modelmegastore.com
but they don't know about "fishplates" when I get there.
presumably I should stay with the same series fishplates as the originals or should I just change to Atlas Code 100's from the start?
  Quoted Text Here  
yes
presumably I need to clean these copper tabs straight off. Maybe some HCl will do it (with lots of washing afterwards)
Thanks Joe

mack wrote: [...]
  Quoted Text Here  
[...]
Railjoiners (or rail joiners) in our English.

Wolf Kirchmeir spake thus:
  Quoted Text Here  
>
  Quoted Text Here  
Right; "fishplates" are also used in our English, but they refer to the metal plates under the rails on the Real Thing.

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 18:46:54 GMT, David Nebenzahl
  Quoted Text Here  
Fishplates in our English are commonly called 'Joint bars' in your English, both are used to join real railway rails. Rail joiners are strictly for models and are not fishplates in anyone's English. Keith

Keith spake thus:
  Quoted Text Here  
Whoops. My bad. Not tie plates. Give me my punishment (do I gotta clean all that track *again*?).

David Nebenzahl wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
"Fishplates are the railjoiners - so named because the cross section of the plate/strip is a bit like a swimming fish in shape to fit into the side of normal rail. The metal plates between flat bottomed rail and sleeper is a baseplate. These will sometimes be incorrectly called a "chair" by British modellers as the equivalent fixture for Bullhead rail is called a chair.
  Quoted Text Here  

>The metal plates between flat bottomed rail and sleeper is a baseplate.
The metal plate between the flat bottomed rail and the crosstie is a tie plate.

David Nebenzahl wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
Those are "tie plates" hereabouts.

mack spake thus:
[...]
  Quoted Text Here  
Yikes. I'd try some vinegar first; usually this is enough acid to get that kind of crud off.

David Nebenzahl wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
It helps to add some salt to the vinegar - that makes it a buffered H-Cl solution, which works a little better than vinegar alone.

David Nebenzahl wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
 OK. HCl is overkill.
Have found rail joiners too for those that have been sending me trainslations.
Thanks Joe

mack wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
Well, of course everyone has a lathe, but I was newly married and had my first home and a big mortgage, and well, I had this idea that one should have somewhere to keep one's lathe out of the worst of the weather!
  Quoted Text Here  
"Dohhs" are so much more fun to the observer!
  Quoted Text Here  
There are varying grades of stainless steel - Ma stainless steel stains even if it doesn't rust! ... and it attracts magnets!
  Quoted Text Here  
You don't want Ma fishplates - trust me!
  Quoted Text Here  
Try " railjoiners" English vs US language.
  Quoted Text Here  
Just go with Atlas's Code 100. It is the width of the foot of the rail that is the relevant dimension.
  Quoted Text Here  
It would be much easier to clean them before you lay the track! ;-)
  Quoted Text Here