I spent my evening last night cleaning track. Good times.

I think its the first time in a long time, longer then I care to admit, that I spent a couple hours just cleaning track. ...and it shows!

I was also motivated to try a new product I picked up weeks ago, but finally got the nerve to try and use.




It's called Track & Rail Cleaner "ACT 6006" (<--- whatever that means?) made by a company Aero-Car Hobby Lubricants based in Western Springs, IL, USA.

Never heard of them. There was however a website on the bottle too, http://www.aerocarlubricants.com which I have yet to check out.

Following the directions on the bottle it says to apply a small dab onto a soft cloth which is what I used, or rather the remains of an old cotton t-shirt. Then wipe off the residue with another soft cloth. After talking to guys at George's Trains including a customer who using this product they suggested that because it would be my first time using this product to buff the track with a Bright Boy to get the oxidization off the rail heads. Then I went to work in about three foot sections of the layout at a time using nothing more then the cloth and my fingers, I buffed, polished, and wiped. ( lather, rinse, repeat... )

How did it do? I think it did as well as to be expected and judging by the mess on the six rags I used to clean everything, my track work needed it. That said, the rails are not spotless and the rags were still coming up greyish/black after wiping several times. This is most likely due to the fact that I have not cleaned my track work in very, very, very, very ...long time. So I'll give it a couple of weeks and go over it all again and see if I can get the white rags to come up nearly spotless.

How does it work? Well, like Wahl Oil, it leaves a thin film on the track, after you wipe it down with a dry cloth which is supposed to help prevent oxidization. It also suspiciously smelt and felt like Wahl clipper oil, however I was assured that its not. Even though right on the bottle it says, Paraffinic Hydrocarbon, which is (surprise!) an oil. I didn't pay a lot for it, something like 8 bucks for the bottle taxes in so I'm not going to cry about it if it doesn't work and I never use it again.

All that said, I've been running some trains since then and so far no problems. I'd really like to avoid using abrasive blocks on the rails too as I'm afraid of pitting. I've also found that even though a Bright Boy makes the rail shiny, it still leaves a black film on the track as evidenced when I rub the rail with my finger after I have used it. I've been told this product is also safe to use on loco wheels, but to clean off the wheels with some rubbing alcohol otherwise your trucks will lose traction on steep grades. I'll have to give that a go, however at present I just use a cotton swab dipped in a small amount of thinner, which cleans the crud off nicely and would seem to avoid the step of applying the cleaner all together.

So, I'll revisit this again in a couple weeks and give the track another once over. I'm hoping that after the second application the rags will come near spotless and that as I continue to use the product, application times will become less frequent. Our club started using this stuff and we clean the track maybe twice a year, before our fall and spring shows.

ITS A PART OF THE HOBBY,STRENUOUS BUT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO KEEP THINGS ROLLING ! uPON VISITING MANY CLUBS IN MY AREA, THE MEMBERS ASK ME TO JOIN THIER GROUPS AND TO START OUT FIRST TASKS YOU ARE IN THE TRACK CLEANING GROUP. iMPORTANT BUT STARTING OUT AT THE BOTTOM.[ BETTER THAN CLEANING THIER BATHROOMS] ............................. rub rub rub keeps the engines go chug chug chug .............

The last information I saw on track cleaning was a lengthy study done by a large club that used small amounts of automatic transmission fluid over a couple of hundred hours and many miles of operation with excellent results. The great thing about that is that it's available from anywhere including Mao-Mart.

I've been using the ACT 6006 for a number of years now, and it works!!!!!
Running narrow gauge on the modules at shows, I always keep a box car, with a track cleaning pad and the ACT 6006, in the consist. There's a lot of dust kicked up by the crowds, and the pad and cleaner keep the track clean throughout the day.

Sumpter250 Wrote:I've been using the ACT 6006 for a number of years now, and it works!!!!!
Running narrow gauge on the modules at shows, I always keep a box car, with a track cleaning pad and the ACT 6006, in the consist. There's a lot of dust kicked up by the crowds, and the pad and cleaner keep the track clean throughout the day.

That is great to hear and the kind of feedback I'm looking for. Thanks!

10 to 15 years ago when I bought my first Digitrax command control, Digitrax was recommending the use of Aero-Locomotive Works track cleaner (part # ACT-6006). I had already been using this product and had found it much better than the Rail Zip I had used previously. Most of my layout is on a 2% grade and it does not effect traction at all. I use a Center Line Products track cleaning car with a brass cylinder covered with a Jay Cloth pad that roles on the track to apply the fluid, and this is followed by a box car with a cotton pad rubbing the rails and another one with a Masonite pad (rough side down) to polish the rail head. This train is run over the track twice in each direction, once or twice a year at most. I also have an air cleaner running 24 hr a day all year long in the layout room to keep dust at a minimum. I feel that this is a great product and would recommend it to every one.

As you stated it may take a lot of work to first get the track clean but once you reach this point it is easy to maintain. And also plastic wheels running on a long layout will really help defeat any attempts to keep the track clean.

I've been using it for about 10 years -- I'm almost halfway down my first bottle.
One trick is to wrap your cloth around a solid block. It's easier to run along the rails.
I got a lid with an eye-dropper in it from my drugstore. This makes it a lot easier to put small amounts where you need them.
Clean your wheels. I have a special length of track that I use. Put a paper towel over the rails and dribble a few inches of solution where the rails are. Run your car onto the towel, back and forth a few times. When you think the lines it makes are really black, move the towel sideways a smidgen. It sometimes helps to put sideways pressure on the wheels. (If your rails are black, your wheels are too.)
I use the CentreLine rail car. One of my friends uses a pair -- wet and dry.

If you take trains to run on another layout, it's courtesy to clean the wheels first. It's a sensible precaution to clean them again before putting them back on your layout.