Model Railway Forum

Been doing a lot of landscaping work recently and thought that I'd successfully cleaned the track ready to run trains again.

Had a big problem with my OO gauge Derby Lightweight DMU. Initially very severe, so I did, as I thought, another good clean on the track and cleaned the wheels of the DMU. I have Woodland scenics Tidy Track stuff for track and wheels and a Peco track rubber for points.

Partial success, other locos OK on the track but not the DMU. Ran the DMU again on the rotary wheel cleaner, ran OK on the cleaner but not on my track. Under magnification I could see that there was still quite a lot of dirt on the wheels. Ultimately I only cleaned the wheels to the degree required for all DCC functions and DMU lighting to work consistently by dressing each one with the abrasive fibreglass pen that I use for cleaning the track for soldering, finishing off with a wipe of IPA.

I'd be interested to know what other peeps successfully use for their track and wheel cleaning.

Isopropyl Alcohol. Does a perfect job and much cheaper than stuff in posh bottles.

IPA, 99.9% - bought 5 litres last week for about £12 on eBay.

I agree, IPA applied using a lint free cloth.

Steve M wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:28 pm IPA, 99.9% - bought 5 litres last week for about £12 on eBay.

I wish I’d known Steve. I bought 5 litres about 5 years ago and I’ve still got about 4.5 litres left. You could of had some. R-

Already have a bottle of it, use it with the felt pads of the Tidy Track. The holder with its handle works well with cleaning the track on my bridges and in my tunnel.

RogerB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:33 pm I agree, IPA applied using a lint free cloth.

Steve M wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:28 pm IPA, 99.9% - bought 5 litres last week for about £12 on eBay.

I wish I’d known Steve. I bought 5 litres about 5 years ago and I’ve still got about 4.5 litres left. You could of had some. R-

I use quite a bit of it - track cleaning is a ‘sideline’. I do a bit of car body repair using a puller and hot glue on parking dings - IPA is perfect for cleaning hot glue residue. I haven’t tried it yet but I have seen it used as a thinner for airbrush paints as well.
Either way, it’s so cheap it’s worth laying down a stock of the stuff.

Yes, 99.9% IPA is my only track and wheel cleaning fluid. ebay purchased.
Please ensure you keep IPA away from finely painted surfaces such as loco bodies.