Family Garden Trains
Discussion Forums

Visit our Affiliated Pages:
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.

It is currently Mon Nov 04, 2024 2:33 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Track Cleaning
PostPosted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:34 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:13 am
Posts: 184
A reader writes:

Do you know what the LGB track cleaner pads are made of?
I started sept 01 2008. I have placed over 22 tons of concrete, 11 tons of rocks 3 small dump trucks of dirt. My problem is the dirty track, from the air, I have no dirt, on the 1000 feet of track.

------------------------------------------------

Thanks for getting in touch. LGB track cleaning blocks seem to be a sort of synthetic pumice. They're abrasive, but not aggressively so. Some folks use Scotch-brite pads, which are meant for cleaning pots and pans without scratching them. Some folks use drywall sanding pads, attached to the poles that drywallers use.

I generally get extra-fine 3M sanding sponges. They're too aggressive to be used on aluminum, but used lightly a few times a year on brass don't cause any wear to speak of.

What you choose depends somewhat on what your track is made of, aluminum, brass, or steel?

I use almost all brass outside, mostly AristoCraft. Much of the track I left behind on our old railroad when we moved was at least 12 years old and had no damage to speak of from the sanding sponges. The problem with the doohickies that "clean" or sand the top of the rails while the train is moving is that they don't get the inside edge of the rail, which is often the only part of the rail that the wheels contact. I wipe the track with my sponge at an angle so it gets the inside of the rails and the part of the top that the wheels are likely to contact.

On my old railroad, which was partly ground-level and often overgrown with weeds and overly-aggressive plants, 90% of my "track maintenance" was really weeding and trimming. Taking a sanding sponge along to wipe the track at the same time was a no-brainer.

My current railroad is raised, with only an inch or two of dirt most places, so weeds and overgrowth aren't a big problem. I also avoid running equipment with plastic wheels when the track is hot from the sun (that causes black gunk to deposit on the rails). So I wipe the track only every several weeks, even in cold weather.

That takes care of any light corrosion and any dirt that has accumulated. I also keep a sanding sponge on-hand when I'm running in case a bit of track starts giving my locomotives a problem.

If you have aluminum track, you wouldn't want to sand it much, and if you have steel track, you shouldn't need to sand it. In both cases, wiping the track with a rag and kerosene would do the job just as well.

I got interrupted about four times while typing this, so it isn't exactly coherent. But hopefully you'll find some helpful tips buried in there somewhere.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron


Click to see sturdy Lionel(r) trains that are perfect for your Christmas tree.


Visit our affiliated sites:
- Trains and Hobbies -
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Big Indoor Trains Primer Articles: All about setting up and displaying indoor display trains and towns. Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well
On30 and O Gauge trains to go with indoor display villages and railroads
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
Visit Lionel Trains. Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet.. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Craft and collectibles blog with local news of Croton NY.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
- Music -
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable.



Click to trains that commemorate your team!

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group