08-09-2011, 12:33 PM
In one of Joe Fugate's clinics at the 2011 NMRA convention in Sacramento, he mentions that he uses mineral spirits after cleaning his track. He puts it on the rails very thin and wipes off the excess. He suggested an experiment to do if you doubt the use of a conducting lubricant. Run your locomotive on dry clean track in a dark room and watch the sparks between the wheels and the rails. Remember that every spark is putting a tiny pit in both the rail and the wheel. Then turn the lights on and put a thin coat of mineral spirits on the rails, shut off the lights and run it again. The sparks will disappear. I think this is the reason that the Wahl clipper oil works. The difference is that you can buy a gallon of mineral spirits at a big box home improvement store for the price of a pint of Wahl oil.