Cleaning rail joiners (and other track cleaning stuff)

[MaxBrick (Max)]

Currently cleaning the inside of LGB fishplates with Q-tips soaked by smoke fluid. It at least removes more physical dirt that some joiners got than just blowing them (haha) but it only barely shows the yellow color (most of them were the same brown as the rest of the rails from oxidization). Admittedly I didn’t do much real testing since the railroad is getting a lot of work done so testing trains is not easy.

Also, does cleaning the inner rail head improve performance at all? I have an LGB sanding pad now meaning that it should be doable but it’s still more tedious than the top of the rails so I’d rather not do it if possible.

My last question is if what I’m currently trying (drilling holes into the fishplates and screwing them in as if they’re aristo joiners) is any less effective than rail clamps? For the ones that are already screwed in, some of them are still dirty in the fishplates, and I’m considering cleaning those ones too as I’ve described, although it will be tedious work.

[capecodtodd (Todd Haskins)]

Track does not have to be shiny bright to conduct power. It only has to have the “goo” removed. The goo at this time of year in my area is pollen and caterpillar crap.

It wouldn’t hurt to hit the inside of the rail but it is not necessary.
Screwing the rail joiners to the track is a good move but it is labor intensive as is soldering jumper wires to bridge the gaps.
When I was putting my track down and whenever I pull it up to fix something I clean out the joiners or dirt etc. and sometime use a wire wheel to clean it up. I then use a conductive paste/grease.

I’d say that half of my RR uses rail clamps and the rest is still on track joiners. If I have a problem I will use a product from Crest called 226. Spray some of that into the bad joint and it should restore the power until you can fix that section.

Just as important as cleaning the rail head is also cleaning the pickup wheels on the engine. Short wheel based engines are always a problem since it does not take much to stop them in their tracks, such as a LGB Porter, so with mine I use tenders with track pickups.

[Todd_Brody]

After spraying the joiner, I would take a piece of sandpaper, doubled over, to remove the oxidation in between and clean these same areas on the track. If you are ambitious, a Dremel with a wire wheel does a good job on the rail.

The screws may be overkill, but are a good idea. Be sure they are stainless steel. I have stainless screws in my AristoCraft track put down in 1997, and they are still removable. Any other material will “weld” itself to the brass over time so as to be unremovable.

Personally, I used the jumper wires between track sections. But this does make it difficult to replace the ties in 20+ years as they don’t slide over the solder blob and it must be cleaned away to slide the ties past or the ties installed from beneath.

[MaxBrick (Max)]

I use screws meant for g scale track, specifically USA Trains track screws

[Cliff_Jennings]

I wonder if conductive grease can work through the oxidation, and/or would otherwise help in the power transmission.

[Rick_Marty]

I don’t deal with it anymore but back in the day in the sticks, not in the “hood” which is so often quoted here, I found nothing can beat jumper wires, easy to install and zero things to maintain. With jumpers your slip joiners can fill up with as much crud as they want and it doesn’t affect anything.

Just an observation from a guy that has been there and done that

[Dave_Meashey (David Meashey)]

Pine needles used to plague me. Sometimes had to use a fine grit drywall screen sander before I began to run. Eventually made me take up my small layout. As I started into the little live steamers, I learned THEY DON’T CARE! Too late to go back but now I realize why so many hobbyists extol battery and live steam. Even the HO crowd are extoling “dead rail” layouts.

Perhaps something to consider. - At least down the road a bit.

Regards, David Meashey

[Turbo4whl (Wayne Powell)]

@MaxBrick

Also, does cleaning the inner rail head improve performance at all? I have an LGB sanding pad now meaning that it should be doable but it’s still more tedious than the top of the rails so I’d rather not do it if possible.

There is a product that will clean rail joiners easily. At work we use a product called Deoxit for cleaning rotating slip ring contacts. The carbon brushes leave a deposit on the brass contacts and they also get oil and moisture. Deoxit converts the deposits to a better conductor. I’ll explain in a minute.

Researching Deoxit, I found a fellow modeler using it on his rails. Now LGB states use smoke oil to clean rails. Doing this between spans of running trains, for me required lot of elbow grease too. If I left any stretch of track not shinny brass, the train stopped. The modeler explained the dark color is carbon. It is created by micro arcing between the train wheels and sliding contacts. It gets darker as moisture and other air contaminates join it.

Carbon is a conductor, but it also is a resistor. The contaminates make more of an insulator. The Deoxit converts it to a conductor. I applied it with my LGB sponge/smoke oil cleaner. No hard rubbing, after a few feet I sprayed on more Deoxit until I did all the track. Then put an engine on the track and run it around. The Deoxit leaches into the connectors too.

The proof: Last October I want to run my Halloween train. I treated the dark rails. Train runs great! Move two months later, run the Christmas train without retreating the rails, still running great.

Busy now but I will run a larger train in July. I’ll let you know if is finally time to retreat the rails. Sorry so long winded, but I wanted to let you know how it works and why.