Model Railroading > Rail Zip for cleaning track

By far the biggest impediment to my fully enjoying my smallish layout is "dirty" rail.  I've tried almost everything and in my experience the best solution  is to spread an inch length of Rail Zip on the rails and then let the trains spread it around. That thin rail coating improves conductivity immensely.  An easy and immediate transformation from a jerky operation to a  smooth one. 

Any downsides to Rail Zip? Does it accumulate over time until you have major problems?   Is automatic transmission fluid for a car really the same thing as Rail Zip? 

Thanks for for your comments. 

I've been using it for a few years and have noticed a buildup of film on the rail but no adverse affects. Once a month or so i spread a little out on the main track and yard throats with good results, even on industrial tracks that see very little usage.

Slightly O.T. but interesting. --
Back in the 1950s, I had a Mantua Mogu that I thought needed a wheel cleaning.
I took my motor tool, mounted a polishing wheel in it and started to clean the drivers.
After that exercise, the loco wouldn't pull more than two or three cars uphill!
 

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

WD40 contact cleaner works great for me.

CajonRat Wrote:
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> WD40 contact cleaner works great for me.

Almost any kind of grease-less electrical contact cleaner will work. The one I've used is LPS Contact Cleaner in an aerosol can. This one has been around for a long time and is grease-less so it won't build up a film on your rail or wheels.

Speaking of wheels and dirty track, are you using any plastic wheel sets? Those are notorious for building up a dirt film on track as well as the wheel tread. I switched to all metal wheels some time ago for this and other reasons.

best regards,
Mark G.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 14:28 by MarkG.

WD40 is a petroleum product and is not plastic compatible. If you spray it on a cloth and wipe it lightly on the top of the rail it will work. If you spray it on the top of the track using the red tube the plastic spikes on the top of the ties will deteoriate over time and you will need to relay the rail and switches.

As a general rule WD40 is not something to use in the model railroad hobby.

Isopropyl alcohol is an ideal solvent for cleaning track. It'll dissolve all residues very effectively and any residual IPA will evaporate away very quickly.

If you want to start an argument among model railroaders, ask them how they clean their track. Everyone has a different product they swear by. Also, what works well on one model railroad doesn't necessarily work well on another. At the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego Society of N Scale uses isopropyl alcohol, and they love it. When the La Mesa Model Railroad Club next door uses the same stuff on their HO layout, the trains stop running inside of a week. Go figger...

Winston Hill

i also use isopropyl alcohol.

i dip a wooden "shim" in the isoproply alcohol and start rubbing the tracks.  when enough dirt rubs off on the shim i just cut the dirty section away and start the process over..........

66

All I know is Rail Zip works and I don't have to rub the track with a stick, roller, or light off alcohol. You mileage may vary.

When I was in a big club in Virginia we would use Alcohol in our cleaning train and it worked well.  The few times a year when we had open houses we would use Rail Zip about half way through when we started to see isssues, but then clean it off in the next week or two.  I also used Laquer thinner a few times in the cleaning train, but some of the members had cows, it worked, but it pissed them off.

Jim

I read somewhere that Mineral Spirits works well.  I need to clean mine, so I'll try it.

I tried Rail Zip for awhile after having good results with my previous DC layout. With my current DCC layout I have a section of mainline that runs through unfinished attic space and collects a fair amount of dust. The Rail Zip worked at first but then seemed to create mud. Tried No Ox and then graphite with no better results. I then scrubbed everything clean with alcohol and a lint free cloth. Rails, wheels, everything. Then I scrubbed the rail again with a bright boy and wiped them down again. I now run two of the cheap Walthers track cleaning boxcars with the lousy bodies removed and the heavy metal frames painted camouflage brown. Every once and awhile I pull them and clean the pads with a bright boy and that's it. No issues anymore. Like one poster stated above, every layout is a little different. Try different things until you find what works for you.

I'll say this though. The Walthers cars work well and are $25 to $30 bucks. If they don't work for you at least you won't have to spend many hours degumming your layout of everything else you tried on it first like I did.
. 

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> I read somewhere that Mineral Spirits works
> well.  I need to clean mine, so I'll try it.

It will work well as a solvent for oily dirt but has a strong smell and doesn't evaporate quickly like isopropyl alcohol, so can be harder to get any residual solvent off. Isopropyl alcohol or acetone are the best all-round.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 20:16 by exhaustED.

winstonhill Wrote:
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> If you want to start an argument among model
> railroaders, ask them how they clean their track.
> Everyone has a different product they swear by.
> Also, what works well on one model railroad
> doesn't necessarily work well on another. At the
> San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego
> Society of N Scale uses isopropyl alcohol, and
> they love it. When the La Mesa Model Railroad Club
> next door uses the same stuff on their HO layout,
> the trains stop running inside of a week. Go
> figger...
>
> Winston Hill

Not sure what the La Mesa boys are doing... but it sounds like something very strange... any residual isopropyl alcohol evaporates in seconds.

exhaustED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> winstonhill Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If you want to start an argument among model
> > railroaders, ask them how they clean their
> track.
> > Everyone has a different product they swear by.
> > Also, what works well on one model railroad
> > doesn't necessarily work well on another. At
> the
> > San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego
> > Society of N Scale uses isopropyl alcohol, and
> > they love it. When the La Mesa Model Railroad
> Club
> > next door uses the same stuff on their HO
> layout,
> > the trains stop running inside of a week. Go
> > figger...
> >
> > Winston Hill
>
> Not sure what the La Mesa boys are doing... but it
> sounds like something very strange... any residual
> isopropyl alcohol evaporates in seconds.

That could be the problem. The alcohol evaporates too quickly and leaves the mud behind.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > winstonhill Wrote:
> >
> > > When the La Mesa Model Railroad
> > Club next door uses the same stuff on their HO
> > layout, the trains stop running inside of a week. Go
> > > figger...

> > Not sure what the La Mesa boys are doing... but
> it sounds like something very strange... any
> residual isopropyl alcohol evaporates in seconds.

> That could be the problem. The alcohol evaporates
> too quickly and leaves the mud behind.

If the alcohol is on a suitable cloth/substrate it really shouldn't. Using a cloth/tissue or similar it should be removing the 'mud'... unless they have some very unusual 'mud'! 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 20:53 by exhaustED.

Walthers did nobody a favor by putting a low roof plug door body on their track slider car.
I went to my junk box and found another body and some left over decals and came up with this.
As it is run in more recent times I gave it a roller bearing conversion truck set and removed the roof walk.
Feeling that no big money was at stake I gave it a really serious rust effect and to my surprise it really looks good to me.
These cars are great to experiment on, if all else fails just paint 'em gray like a work train.

---

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> Walthers did nobody a favor by putting a low roof
> plug door body on their track slider car.
> I went to my junk box and found another body and
> some left over decals and came up with this.
> As it is run in more recent times I gave it a
> roller bearing conversion truck set and removed
> the roof walk.
> Feeling that no big money was at stake I gave it a
> really serious rust effect and to my surprise it
> really looks good to me.
> These cars are great to experiment on, if all else
> fails just paint 'em gray like a work train.

Build some new bodies to look something like a Rail Grinder train and there ya go.
Just paint it yellow, add Herzog decals and weather the snot out of it.

> As it is run in more recent times I gave it a
> roller bearing conversion truck set and removed
> the roof walk.

Nice looking solution. An operator could bury a couple of those in almost any train