Cleaning a small track

[Country joe]

As I only have a small layout, and have a vacuum which I can set on low and with a small brush attached  I can vacuum  the track, been looking at cleaning coaches,  but I think I could get away with handcleaning for dirty track been using baby wipes, what do you find best for hand cleaning.

[Chrissaf]

I don't know what chemical is in 'Baby Wipes' but what ever it is, it may not be efficient at removing sticky oil based grime. If there is water content in the 'Baby Wipes' and the rails are older Steel rather than Nickel, then you could be promoting an environment to encourage rust.

.

IPA (IsoPropyl Alcohol) used with lint free cotton is the normally accepted standard for rail cleaning. IPA is very volatile meaning it evaporates rapidly and leaves minimal residue. Who knows what greases 'Baby Wipes' will leave behind on the rail. IPA with cotton buds is acceptable for cleaning the sides of the rails on points (turnouts).

[walkingthedog]

I agree with Chrissaf. The rough side of piece of hardboard also makes an ideal track cleaner. 

[RDS]

Since the plastic cover that hides the small spring on Hornby points disappeared up our cleaner, I will not use a vacuum cleaner anyway near my track.

I'm sure no-one is wondering but just in case, yes I did (eventually) recover it after emptying out the vacuum cleaner bag!

[Buz]

Hi Country joe

I use a pair of the more recent version of the old style Triang track cleaning cars.

The ones with the felt pad and that look like a US style box car I run one wet the other dry

I run one wet with meths the other dry to mop up the meths.

If using a vacume cleaner as a layout cleaning device it is a good idea to put a ladies stocking over the nozzle to catch any small details it might dislodge.

regards John