Re: products to clean tracks

On 2007-06-15 15:42:43 -0600, David Starr <mittersill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:
Goo Gone. It is sold as a price tag stickum remover just about anywhere. It's based on some extract of orange peels, cuts most goop, and is slightly acid which brightens nickel silver rail. Price is OK, and availability is excellent. Safe on plastics, won't eat paint, glue etc. Leaves rail shiny and dry, no residue. Also good for cleaning wheels.
I used to use alcohol, but now I use Goo Gone 'cause it is fairly cheap and is more active (cuts thru more kinds of crud) than alcohol.

David Starr

Our club used to use Goo Gone until we discovered that it leaves a greenish residue that is VERY hard to get off the rails. When we talked with other clubs who use Goo Gone, they all wipe up AFTER the Goo Gone with alcohol or some other cleaner.

We're now using lacquer thinner, based on a well-reasoned and researched article by a chemist:
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/cmx_chemist_review.htm

We're also investigating a contact cleaner/lubricant (we aren't the ONLY ones who have moving metal-to-metal contacts) like CRC 2-26 (which is not available in Canada *sigh*):
http://www.gatsme.org/HintsTips.html (scroll down to Track Cleaning)

We've found MGChemicals 401b or 801b which sounds similar, and the 801b comes in a pen - how handy!

We'll keep you posted.
--
Mark Johnson
Electrical Department
Edmonton Model Railroad Association
http://www.emraonline.ca

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: products to clean tracks
    ... It's based on some extract of orange peels, cuts most goop, and is slightly acid which brightens nickel silver rail. ... I used to use alcohol, but now I use Goo Gone 'cause it is fairly cheap and is more active than alcohol. ... I'm surprised to hear you use lacquer thinner since it can eat plastic. ...
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    ... Track rubbers or erasers have grit in them - they too scratch the rail surface. ... TV contact cleaner is good, and non-solvent citrus-based cleaners are good, too. ... If you have a track cleaning car, use that, otherwise you'll just have to use a piece of lint-free cloth wrapped around your index finger. ... You will find that plastic wheels pick up gunk faster than metal ones, so I would start a program of replacing all plastic wheel sets with metal ones. ...
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