Track Cleaning

MarkR

MarkR

Western Thunderer
I brought a bottle of Rail Zip, many, many years ago from Cove Models in Farnborough, it still seems to work well.
Mark
 
ullypug

ullypug

Western Thunderer
I've always used IPA and cotton buds, with abrasive or scratch brush to remove any stubborn bits or errant bits of solder etc.
 
Osgood

Osgood

Western Thunderer
I use cotton buds with the contact cleaner spray for hard-to-reach areas, but I find the cotton fibres are at risk of snagging and detaching.
The MDF is also 'micro-fibrous' in nature but without x-ray eyes I am oblivious to any fibres the blocks might leave behind.
 
76043

76043

Western Thunderer
Giles said:
I actually polish my rail and then give it a run over withe graphite stick. This even gets little 009 Huslets to crawl reliably.
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Polish? What polish do you us please Giles?

Thank you Simon for providing further information, I wonder if this is similar to Peco Electrolube? I understand that is now a different formulation now it is called Powerlube.
Tony

P.S. not sure I've ever seen so many different ways to skin the proverbial!
 
daifly

daifly

Western Thunderer
MarkR said:
I brought a bottle of Rail Zip, many, many years ago from Cove Models in Farnborough, it still seems to work well.
Mark
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That's where I bought mine. Dave Smith swore by it. The loco that was running around the track in the shop would run for months without needing any further cleaning after using RailZip. That was not the case with other cleaning regimes that Dave had tried.
 
Giles

Giles

Western Thunderer
After a rub down (surface and inner edge) with 2000 grit wet and dry - which certainly shows up the imperfections - I go over it with brasso and then buff if with kitchen towel. It's a one-time thing. After that it's the occasional wipe off and graphite.
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
And of course we're having to clean our track as it sits idle for 90% of it's time oxidising and collecting household dust.

Unlike the prototype which also carries a small current and has a 24hr traffic on most lines. You only have to see lines with no weekend traffic to see how quickly it starts oxidising/rusting.
 
76043

76043

Western Thunderer
Thanks Giles, that's certainly a novel way that sound worth trying if it can make a Bachmann 009 Hunslet work well!
Cheers
Tony
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
spikey faz said:
I then often follow up by squirting some of this stuff onto a cotton bud and run that along the rail.
20251120_070815.jpg


The amount of dirt that comes off is surprising, but have no idea if it is ok to use this stuff for track cleaning. So use it at your own risk.
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Interesting - scanning CPC website they have this Kontakt Super 10 but they also seem to have a Kontakt 6* range with anti-corrosion additives. Suggesting cleaning Kontakt 60 and then Kontakt 61 to protect.

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Screenshot 2025-11-20 at 19.45.04.png

 
spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
One further thing for me to add. I have only used steel rail for the last 30+ years. So steel on steel for the contact. My small oil filled radiator keeps the shed 4-5C above ambient so the relative humidity is low. Rust only occurs when I forget to neutralise flux after soldering. I use Carrs Green as a 25% solution - full strength is a bit fierce.
I was told by an engineer that Railzip is a hydraulic fluid, specificly used in automatic transmissions. So nothing like Electrolube.
Dave Nicholson of ZTC fame suggested the use of Railzip to me. He never cleaned the track or wheels. We found on Aberbeeg that an annual-ish clean was beneficial. I'm unsure if stay-alives would wipe out this advantage.
Simon
 
SouthernFan Ian

SouthernFan Ian

Western Thunderer
spikey faz said:
Incidentally I know that Slatersplastikard sell a track cleaning fluid. Maybe I should give it a go.

Mike
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In the past, when Pengwynn Crossing was on the exhibition circuit, track cleaning was undertaken with Slater’s track cleaner. At the time, it was a Godsend as all locomotives ran faultlessly throughout the day. Loco wheels were also cleaned with the Slater’s product using a cotton bud.
I do not know if today’s product is as good but will find out soon when Stroudley Park goes out on show.
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
spikey faz said:
I'll be interested to hear how you get on with these products. :)

Mike
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By no means an extensive test - it just so happens that I'm currently making up some track panels - using some steel rail, like SimonT my track is exclusively steel rail. The rail has just been sat in the work room for 5 or 6 years and has a very slight bit of surface corrosion.

By no means an exhaustive test but squirting some kontakt 60 onto a cloth and rubbing a short length did seem to remove the surface corrosion - the red circled area. Whether it would work on a more heavily corroded section I couldn't tell you.

Previously I would have used a garyflex block or similar but that leaves debris in it's wake and the rail still needs a wipe with IPA to remove some of the rubber film left. The contakt 60 is highly volatile, it doesn't seem to leave any residue - it looks promising for once these panels have been laid.
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