07-15-2011, 07:34 PM
Justin, one point that Joe Fugate made in his clinic on getting our trains to run reliably is that he had the "gunk" he wiped off his tracks chemically analyzed and the company doing the testing found a significant amount of plastic. He made it a priority to replace the plastic wheel sets with metal.
He also cleans his track with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and leaves a thin film on the rails. He suggested for those who think that track is better if dry that you run your train with the lights turned out at night, and watch the "spark show" put out by your locomotives and any cars with track powered lighting. Then put down a thin film of mineral spirits, and try it again and see how the sparking disappears. Each spark makes a small pit in your loco wheels and on that spot on the rail. This is why the thread started testing the use of Whal oil on tracks worked. Basically any thin viscosity oil will work to reduce arcing and pitting.
He also cleans his track with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and leaves a thin film on the rails. He suggested for those who think that track is better if dry that you run your train with the lights turned out at night, and watch the "spark show" put out by your locomotives and any cars with track powered lighting. Then put down a thin film of mineral spirits, and try it again and see how the sparking disappears. Each spark makes a small pit in your loco wheels and on that spot on the rail. This is why the thread started testing the use of Whal oil on tracks worked. Basically any thin viscosity oil will work to reduce arcing and pitting.