Track Cleaning

Hello Roy, as I said in an earlier post, any trace of RailZip will be bad news for traction tyres on Hornby or Lima, causing dismounting followed by perishing then breakage.

That will happen if you use RailZip in "mode 2", by which I mean you leave it smeared around the track to improve conductivity. I only now use RailZip in "mode 1", by which I mean I use it as a cleaning fluid, and rub it well off, and leave it a few minutes, before running any traction tyred stock.

Most of my Lima and older Hornby locos are now sitting in a corner waiting for some kind person to put the tyres back on, and I now just run Bachmann Warships and 25s, which between them can handle all the requirements of my timetable. I believe that is the prototypical approach: find the thing that works, standardise on it, and discard everything else. Of course, it also the entirely boring approach, and I wait to see if the upcoming Hornby ex-Lima 73's do or don't have the tyres. A fiver of my money says that they will be exactly the same as the Lima products, with absolutely nothing whatsoever altered in any way.

For spare tyres, these can be made out of bits of rubber by the dexterously gifted, or you do what I do, which is to keep an eye out on eBay and buy up every single tyre that comes along.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Steve

Rail-Zip package instructions (abridged):

1. Apply to clean cloth, cotton swab, felt towel or sponge.
2. Apply directly to surface area to be treated. A thin, uniform coating is best. Do not rub -- Rail-Zip works chemically, not mechanically.
3. Allow to work overnight (10-12 hours) to penetrate and protect.
4. (Optional) Remove any excess residue with a clean cloth lightly moistened with water... yes, we said water!

I imagine that step 4 is required if you have any stock with tyres.

The package also claims that it: restores electrical conductivity; penetrates existing corrosion; retards rate of corrosion; is safe for plastics; lasts for 8-12 weeks.

Does anyone have experience with LPS-1 Greaseless Lubricant?

Thank you, Martin. Of course, when I actually get overcome with the urge to see a train running round the layout (I know, it's a mad idea, I should be sitting in the kitchen counting the spokes on Dogfish brake handles), I find it difficult to plan 10-12 hours ahead!

Cheers, Steve

Roy,

You can find suitable replacement tyres in the Fleischmann range for most if not all Lima and probably Hornby. Marklin & Roco are other sources.

Peter

Yes they seem to sell about 10 different tyres. But does anyone know how to find out the dimensions of them? I've played around on the web for a while without much luck.

Steve.

-- Dr Steven Noble Admissions Tutor Department of Mathematical Sciences Brunel University UK

Has anyone tried LPS-1 or (slightly off topic) Gumbuster? LPS-1 gets a very positive review on the site that Martin mentions but it would be nice to have other opinions from here.

I vaguely recall a discussion on cleaning loco wheels fairly recently but seem to remember that it didn't take off in the way that some discussions do. Two things stick in my memory:

1) Using a fibreglass brush to clean the wheels in the first place - does this scratch the wheels and make things worse? 2) Polishing the wheels afterwards with something like Brasso. Does this work or did I imagine it!

Steve.

-- Dr Steven Noble Admissions Tutor Department of Mathematical Sciences Brunel University UK