Steel Track Cleaning

Using steel track :-)

Store with anti-rust vapour wrapper, and use Rail Zip (new discovery for me, everyone else knew it yonks ago) when on the layout - or use Peco nickel-silvered track which is Much Better.

Guy

Those horrible old rails are steel coated not pure steel. I bet you took the coating off. Best action is to bin them and use nickel silver like the rest of the world.

In message , "Just zis Guy, you know?" writes

or even modern Hornby track, which is also made of nickel-silver.

I know it is a mad idea but if you have loads of track couldn't you simply electro-plate it. Nickel silver (gold) can be picked up for pennies from charity shops (in the form of old cutlery) and a simple long bath could be made from a cat litter tray.

Etching the steel track first in a light acid (vinegar in water over night should do) would also help the process...

Told you it was a mad idea but must be possible with some form of plating and you shouldn't have to remove the plastic sleepers.

I don't know enough about the process. What about copper sulphate?

There must also be chemical dips.....

I mean if you are thinking of chucking them it might be fun to try.

Pete

You can't nickel/silver plate something, the nickel and the silver seperate and plate under different conditions. But people, including me, used to silver plate using photographic developer solutions. An old silver plated spoon would go a long way. Keep it up to smooth[:))] with Silver Dip. Needs a thin copper plate layer first. Nickel plating is a pig of a job.

Ken.

What are you on about? Nickel silver is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, and contains no silver at all. The expression "nickel-silvered" which appears at the top of this message is total rubbish, Peco track is not "nickek-silvered" but is solid nickel silver.

You're quite right of course, I meant nickel and copper, the zinc drops out of solution, brain shut down temporarily. And certainly Peco rail is solid nickel-silver, but "nickel-silvered" is a valid process where the molten alloy is coated onto a base metal either before of after forming.

Ken.

Such a mad idea that it was completely wrong :o))

Pete

I might try copper plating it. I think steel is more reactive than copper so dunking it in Copper Sulphate solution for a long time should copper plate the track.

Any chemists here?!

Peter Cheap Train Tickets:

Found a reasonably easy to understand site here:

FAQ:

The day you stop trying out mad ideas to see what happens, you may as well be dead. There are already enough boreing people who only bet on certainties.

Ken.

Ken.

As a kid I had a habit of sticking fingers in electrical sockets... certainly knew I was live then :)

Pete

Me too! Those kids hardly ever let me do it to them more than once! :-)

Regards, Greg.P.