Model Railroading > Track cleaning, OMG! Not track cleaning!

Just asking here, has anyone used NO OX ID track cleaning on their layout? The process starts with cleaning track with odorless mineral spirits, then applying a VERY minimal amount of NO OX. 
The process is explained on a YouTube channel Ron's Trains. 

I used similar products on electrical connections as a mechanic, and was wondering if anyone has used this on track 

Thanks for any info 
Dave

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The MRH discussion website has had extensive discussions on track cleaning and sources of track issues, highly recommend checking their discussions which often refer to the experiences of the La Mesa Club and other credble sources. The discussions going back to around 2010 seem to point to cleaning with mineral spirits and then applying small amounts of graphite or applying No-Ox. They list sources for No-Ox for other continents as well. Using No-Ox seems to be a side discussion compared to graphite, but there's a huge number of entries on the topic.

I am also curious if there is recent experiences with No-Ox.

I have switched to Mineral Spirits but have been having mixed results with graphite. Perhaps the graphite I'm using is less then ideal ( what could go wrong sourcing from Amazon...? ) Or perhaps the wildfire smoke has introduced something new.

The MRH guys really have some top notch, expert explanations on where the problems start at.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/24 10:31 by TCnR.

Here is the gist of the issue involving the various substances that help promote electrical contact. Once you cleaned the track with mineral spirits or rubbing alcohol, if left untreated micro-arcing between the rails and wheels will cause pitting and carbon buildup that will eventually make the track "dirty". Now there is a wide variety of things that will stop or reduce that arcing and help promote electrical contact, such as No-ox-id, Railzip, ATF, Whal Clipper Oil, and graphite. And they ALL have one major drawback. They greatly reduce traction. Now if your layout is mostly flat or has light grades, this is not a big issue. But if you have moderate to heavy grades, it can be a serious issue.
I learned this the hard way with No-ox-id. I used it on a locomotive on my flat switching layout at home, and it worked great. No issue on the flat railroad moving a few cars at a time. Then I took that locomotive and others to the club to run a longish train a couple weeks later. I ran the locomotie in the lead with a couple others trailing, on a train all three should have had no problem with. The train stalled out in the helix on the steepest grade on the layout. Even adding a unit the train barely made it up the grade. And soon everyone was having trouble getting up that grade. That thin film of grease on my lead locomotive had spread to the rail and it was a while before it had worn off enough for people to not have trouble.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

There has been a lot of discussion about track cleaning at MRH magazine forums.  The recommendation there is to use low odor mineral spirits and use a car like the Centerline to wipe the rails,  Then follow up with a very light application of graphite on the inside rail heads.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/24 13:55 by SPDRGWfan.

funnelfan Wrote:
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>That thin film of grease on my lead
> locomotive had spread to the rail and it was a
> while before it had worn off enough for people to
> not have trouble.

so is the thin grease film what keeps the rails clean so when it's gone, it's cleaning time again?

The present theory is the gunk is an ash from micro-sparking between the rails and wheels, not just on the locomotive but any wheel or metal to metal connection. The Industrial electrical contact people have already sorted this out using a chemical property to rate the chemicals in all these cleaners. In the electrical world any two metal surfaces are always moving, due to motion or thermal action or the make / break action and has similar effects as a small wheel on a small rail.

The next idea is to reduce the energy build up and the actual spark using a conductive material, which is the idea behind the graphite, or maybe the No-Ox, etc. They use the phrase micro-arcing. the idea is similar but different than ESD build-up and dissipation.

It's not so much a metal getting dirty, it's the spark causing an interaction resulting in what appears to be a gunk, or generally described as a dirty build up, it is an oxide but not a corrosion, it does accumulate and eventually becomes visible. There's other things that cause household accumulations but that gunky wheel build up is what they are chasing. For example general dirt on the rail causes an electrical make / break and all the micro-arcing that goes with the interruption. MRH did a serious analysis of this, they have the story and the details, they should get credit for it.

Agree with the grease and slippery rail problem, seen that with other cleaners. Grease or oil also attract household dust accumulations.

My experience with MS is that you have to really scrub the rail dry after applying it to the point that you get no black gunk coming up anymore. If you don't it will work on the gunk on your rolling stock wheels, loosen it and it will deposit back on your rails and your cleaning all over again. It's really a two part process rails and wheels all need thourogh cleaning. Then you can apply graphite in VERY small amounts, along the inside head of the rail, according to  MRH, letting your train distribute it along your layout. 

No Ox, from what I've been reading is 95% mineral spirits and 5% corrosion inhibiting compound that treats your rails. Again it must be used VERY sparingly or your will again loosen any crud on your rolling stock wheels right back on your rails and cause traction issues like Ted had.

My experience has not been great with graphite or No Ox because I have an area that's in an attic that's not climate controlled and it's just so hard to really clean rolling stock wheels, but it has been better once I learned I really have to scrub the rails clean and dry after applying anything.

Some guys swear by both graphite and NO Ox. That ain't me. If I was starting fresh today, I would do whatever La Mesa is doing and adjust from there.