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

voodoopenguin said:
I might be getting a reputation with the neighbours, I'm the guy with the acid bath on his drive.

Paul
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You'd better hope they don't look in the freezer...... :rofl:

As people tend to say in interviews after the arrest: "He was such a nice chap, kept to himself a lot....." ;)

Jon.
 
voodoopenguin said:
I might be getting a reputation with the neighbours, I'm the guy with the acid bath on his drive.

Paul
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I am begining to wonder what I have started with this thread? But back on piste as it were I still need to do a Coka Cola non diet test. All I need is my round to it to kick in to buy a can, but it does go severely against the grain buying such sugary non alchoholic beveragea.
 
I still have several pieces of track that haven't been "dunked" in cola, or vinegar, or .........!

How would you say the results compare with the other fluids please? Does it get right into the fishplates where I have to use cotton buds to clear out the "crud".

I suppose the strength of the acid is also a factor.

I'm tempted to buy some of this brick acid but would rather not if the results are only marginally better.

Thanks for the assessment.

Sarah Winfield
 
having cleaned track on a semi industrial scale and tried many methods the brick acid and 4 ft trays did the job and pretty fast
it can clean track in minutes if used in conjunction with scotch brite but who wants to bugger about with that,,,

dunk for a few hours,, then wash with a hose or dunk in another 4 ft tray of water for a few hours
why mess about doing the ends when bish bosh its all clean and the ties come up very well too

leaving it longer does help around the fish plates but i tell you its the way forward,, i have left it over night but you dont need too.

just treat it with respect,, its an acid and it will drip on the floor so dont be doing it on your best lino,,,,

goggles and rubber gloves really need to be worn for protection rather than sexual pleasure,,, and have a bucket of fresh water handy just in case,,,, water neutralises it,,,,

you wont mess about with anything else once you have used it,,,,,
 
the four ft flower tubs are great,, i used 10 litres and it was enough to submerge lots of track and the displacement was around just over half full which kept spillage and splashing contained

paint trays or guttering may limit the amount you can do in one sitting depending on their depth,,,

rubber aprons good aswell,,,,, and i recommend clothes underneath too,,, especially in winter,,,,, or a busy neighbourhood,,,,
 
Sarah, I believe it was you that asked how to clean the insides of the LGB rail joiners, and I believe that is what the cotton bud suggestion is for.

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Personally I don't think it will do the job, and that is part of why I suggested clamps, if they are really gunked up.

I'm trying to follow your priorities, and it seems that ease of implementation is #1, then cost #2, but not far behind. I think these 2 priorities are often at odds.

Greg
 
As side note. I also use vinegar to clean rust off cast iron sometimes making it look newly cast. I end up with thick settled sludge at the bottom of my vinegar bath.
Drained off and left in the sun to evaporate I had plenty of dried rust powder which I'm using to do weathering on cars etc.
I'm not sure how any traces of vinegar in the dry powder will have any undesirable effects though. :think:
 
Paradise said:
As side note. I also use vinegar to clean rust off cast iron sometimes making it look newly cast. I end up with thick settled sludge at the bottom of my vinegar bath.
Drained off and left in the sun to evaporate I had plenty of dried rust powder which I'm using to do weathering on cars etc.
I'm not sure how any traces of vinegar in the dry powder will have any undesirable effects though. :think:
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Sounds like the perfect recipe to rust non ferrous metals and suchlike. I use Casey’s system of Iron Filings and Vinegar, so similar to yours and not noticed any lasting damage to plastics it has been applied to. But time may tell, though I think outdoors any rain should wash away the residue of Vinegar.
 
dunnyrail said:
Sounds like the perfect recipe to rust non ferrous metals and suchlike. I use Casey’s system of Iron Filings and Vinegar, so similar to yours and not noticed any lasting damage to plastics it has been applied to. But time may tell, though I think outdoors any rain should wash away the residue of Vinegar.
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Yeah, it's mainly plastic or painted surfaces I'm using it on so it either gets sealed in or will wash away with rain etc. It is like iron filings and vinegar system except the vinegar has already effected the iron, probably to the point of it no longer reacting as much.
 
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