Cleaning Tarnished Rail Ends. Cola, Vinegar or other lotions or potions?

I bought some Copper, Multi-purpose grease but I think this is not the "copper slip" that you refer to. This is to prevent disc-brake squeal.

What is the commercial name for what you use, please?

Sarah Winfield
Copper Slip is a trade name, not even sure it is still sold - any copper anti seize paste will do (its not really grease), it should be very dark copper (almost auburn) and be slightly "gritty" to touch.
 

Unfortunately:

Postage:
US $28.39 (approx. £21.28) International Priority Shipping to United Kingdom help icon for delivery - opens a layer
This amount includes seller specified UK postage charges as well as applicable international postage, handling, and other fees. This amount is subject to change until you make payment. For additional information, see the Global Shipping Programme terms and conditions- opens in a new window or tab
| See details



Item location:
Tipton, Indiana, United States




Posts to:
United States and many other countries | See details

Import charges:
US $32.49 (amount confirmed at checkout) To be provided at checkout help icon for delivery - opens a layer
This amount includes applicable customs duties, taxes, brokerage and other fees. This amount is subject to change until you make payment. For additional information, see the Global Shipping Programme terms and conditions- opens in a new window or tab This amount includes applicable customs duties, taxes, brokerage and other fees. This amount is subject to change until you make payment. If you reside in an EU member state besides UK, import VAT on this purchase is not recoverable. For additional information, see the Global Shipping Programme terms and conditions- opens in a new window or tab

Which takes the shine off it a bit..
 
Most Aristo track in the UK tends to have the fishplates with screws..

I have about 800 hex-head screws (black finish), the Bondhus ball-tip hex-drivers, and about 20-30 drills and taps to suit...
Note to self: Must get them on the webby-site! :rolleyes:

Possibly next most common (at least now, not in the past) are the Massoth clamps and insulated joiners.

Push-on for code 332 tend to be Bachmann..
 
why does this threaddrift remind me of the frequent battery advertizements, when somebody asks about DC or DCC?

the question was, how to clean brassrail and joiners.

there are enough garden layouts, that function well for the last fourty years, just using the original track with its original joiners. (*)
clamps are an additional cost. - and additional work. tightening four screws at each joint, instead of just pushing the track together.

from my point of view they make sense around turnouts (points/switches) for easier access.
they make sense for connecting five or ten foot long pieces of track, against loosening from the weather.
but for connecting one-foot pieces of track, that might expand/contract a milimeter or two, they look like overkill to me.
these big, shiny blocks every foot along the track? - seems bl***y ugly to me.

but your miles may vary to my kilometers...

(*) from where comes the name "fishplate" for joiners/connectors?
 
(*) from where comes the name "fishplate" for joiners/connectors?

It comes from an old engineering term. When bits of odd shape steel/iron were joined together with an odd shape plate, they tended to have two points of contact. These were called the 'fishing surfaces'. The term fish derived from a French word fiche, loosely meaning to fasten.
For rail, these fishing surfaces were under the head of the rail, and also on top of the foot. These surfaces would be at a set angle (1 in 4 is common, so is 13° if it's American). The plate that was bolted up to these surfaces also had the same fishing angles. The idea is that the tighter you bolt it up, the more the plates slide in on the rails.
Logically, the plates that fished, were/are called fishplates (a British term, normally)
 
Last edited:
And there are garden layouts where conductivity and the "fishplates" go to hell quickly.

No thread drift, maybe I can put it into focus:

Sarah wants the track very clean
Apparently it is badly oxidized - notice how long it's been in vinegar and not clean enough
methods to clean the ends of the rails are presented, several choices
but cleaning the fishplates seems problematic
rail clamps are suggested..

so that's where we are, I don't really see thread drift as an issue...

Greg
 
I'm surprised that none of the inexpensive Aristo or Train-Li ones did not make it there.
Greg
The Ruschbahn (2004-2012) used a considerable amount of imported x USA Aristo Track which had Railjoiners that had screws as Phil mentions in Post #84. These indeed worked very well, but towards the end of the Ruschbahn some were failing and got swopped out for Massoth Clamps. Looks like it may have been slightly less LGB Glug put on the offending ones or just different weather effects. The Ruschbahn having overhead Concrete Mountains hiding a lot of track made many differing zones in terms of Weather penetration so there may have been differences of effect due to that. None of the Aristo was used in Scenic Sections all LGB. Certainly tightening the Aristo Screws worked for a while on the offending joints but in the end only Massoth Clamps got the sections working reliable enough.

Another issue with the Arist Track was that if you cut it you would have sections where there were no Aristo Screw holes again a big problem that intitally just the joiners worked but eventually Massoth Clamps or Rail Bonding was resorted to.
 
Oh, I also suppose it is very appropriate to be cleaning fishplates with vinegar!?
:giggle::giggle::giggle:
 
I'm reaching the stage when I wish I'd never ask the question. I certainly haven't come to a conclusion as to whether cola, vinegar, brick acid or a combination of all 3 give better results than any of the others.

I think I'll wait 'till my stainz is returned and just see how it performs against one of my other similar locomotives.

Could anyone definitively say which they feel gives the better results? Although even then it depends on how long the rails are left submerged.

I'm still trying to sort out my track foundation.

Sarah Winfield
 
Sarah, do not mix dissimilar acids, your issue is either one of not strong enough of an acid, or that you have stuff on the rail that acid does not remove.

My personal opinion is that if you have been soaking them for this long either your acid has been neutralized (worn out) or is too weak, or the stuff on the rails will NEVER be removed by acid.

Get the dremel and wire brush is my best recommendation after all the time and effort expended with poor results.

Greg
 
I'm reaching the stage when I wish I'd never ask the question.
Sarah Winfield

Never think like that. The beauty of this forum is that you can ask a question. I have enjoyed participating in this thread,
even though I may drift (in tune with others, or out of tune as the case may be), I try to be constructive.

The real secret around here, is choosing what advice to accept (or offer). :clap:
 
A small report on my cleaning experience.

After daveyb mentioned brick acid in this topic I purchased five litres through eBay. It came in two days and cost £6.98 including delivery. Brick acid is hydrochloric acid and I did notice that the strength varied between sellers but this was one of the stronger ones for the price at 18%. I did a test with some diluted in a small plastic bucket with a particularly cruddy curve and after a few hours the improvements were impressive. I had a large water barrel I hadn't connected up to catch rain water yet, filled it with water, poured the test bucket solution in and then added the rest of the 5 litres. A quick calculation puts the strength at roughly 1% which would do you no real harm if splashed on the skin but rinsing would be recommended. Yesterday afternoon I put 20 x 4' straights in which left just over a foot not submerged. Early evening I checked and they looked good so pulled them out and upturned them. This morning I hauled them out. As i had set up the barrel on the drive I could lay them all out and took the hose to them. They are now hanging up to dry in the garden and I am very pleased. At the moment the barrel has the TenMille Gauge 1 track I'm getting rid of in it and after that all the shorter pieces of LGB will have a soak.

Sarah, I believe you are using short pieces for your proposed layout and I would think that you would have a suitable bucket available so don't need to find a large container. I do recommend this treatment and thanks to daveyb for mentioning it.

Paul
 
Back
Top Bottom