Track Cleaning?

I run contact shoes on my locos. You do need to get the points that are making troubles for your sliding blocks fixed tho as they will also cause problems with the shoes. FWIW, I usually don't need to clean my track as the shoes push the dirt off of the railhead where it doesn't cause any problems. Visitors that come over with locos to run generally find that they can't becusse the track is so basically dirty that their locos quickly fail to run due to dirty wheels yet my locos have absolutely no problems running without any problems.

-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

DW:

I fully agree.

Wahl oil has been a standard on many layouts for longer than the 40 years I've been in the hobby. Most folks just put a drop on their fingertip and touch the rails every yard or so. Then run trains.

The rails will turn black from all the crud that comes flying off the wheels of the train. Wipe the track down with ordinary 70% alcohol, and repeat the process. If your wheels are filthy, you may have to do it more than once.

But once you get the crud off the wheels, the layout actually has a chance of staying clean. Otherwise, the wheels will continue to "stamp pad" the rails with crud forever.

After the last alcohol wipe, repeat the drop-on-fingertip every yard and enjoy months of trouble free running. Not to worry, your trains won't slip on it, its feels more like water when you rub your thumb and forefinger together.

A lifetime supply (one bottle) is about $3 and can be found at any Sally Beauty Supply in the USA. Ask your wife where it is. Every city with more than 10 women has one I think. Or at any barber supply and many larger train stores.

Bill

Cool! I didn't know it would stop making the black crud. It conduct's so well through it I wasn't really concerned. When my son & I get the new layout running, I will have to remember this.

--DW

The black crud will still be formed over time. The thing is that the oil will help migrate the crud to where it isn't picked up by the wheels and that is a good thing. The thing that makes for so many different solutions is that dirt in different locations tends to react diffeerently to the process used. As a result, what works for one person's layout may not work as well for your layout. I tend to have a lot of dust falling on the layout and that ends up being bad for good running unless I use sliding contacts which tend to push the dirt aside and is my solution to the problems of dirty track. I also tend to run slowly (trains rarely go more than about 40 scale miles per hour - switching speeds tend to be less than 10 smph) and that makes the problems worse.

-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

I also used Wahl oil until I found Dr. Bonzola's. I find that Wahl will cause traction problems (after all, it is lubricant). Bonzola's will do so also if you use too much, but the threshold seems to be much higher. There doesn't seem to be as much "black crud" problem on the rails, though I do get occasional crud buildups on wheels that has to be scraped off. However, I found this to be the case even before using any chemical treatment. It is less of a problem on metal wheels than on plastic, and hardly any problem at all on wheels that pickup electricity (not sure why that would be).

Use what works for you. Rick

Very True... but actually that was something I enjoyed about it, it made pulling grades a small amount more realistic. But I suppose you only really appreciate how slippery real rails are when you have to deal with them, especially in the fall with the leaf residue.

--DW

What do you do for your Lima locomotives with only 4 wheel drive Nathan?

Do consider a masonite block suspended beneath a stock car ----

#649-6035 - from your dealer through Walthers ---

Bruce