Hi,

I would welcome people's thoughts on track cleaning for Marklin C track. Does anyone use a cleaning wagon, and are they any good?

Many thanks

Alex

HI Alex,

I use the Marklin cleaning wagons and they work quite well. I find them perfect for both light cleaning and maintaining already cleaned track.

I recommend the following forum thread:

https://www.marklin-user...cience-of-track-cleaning

In the thread, there is a table ranking solvents for cleaning tracks. It’s not only about cleaning! The solvent can also limit the microsparks between wheels and tracks that causes ”blank gunk”. I’m very happy since introducing CRC Contact Cleaner for cleaning.

I also recommend the CRC Contact Cleaner; it does a great job on tracks, wheels, axles and even lok motor servicing, with no residue once you remove the dissolved dirt etc. with cotton swabs or rags and elbow (finger?) grease. I spray some into the cap and dip the cotton swabs. It's harder for me to find in retail stores for the last year or so; I got some recently on Amazon and eBay. I get very little black gunk accumulation on wheels and tracks any more.

I haven't used the WD-40 Contact Cleaner but its product description says it's residue-free; I'm not a fan of WD-40's flip-up nozzles though. I find they wear out and cause lots of drips from the can.

I've never used kerosene for train cleaning; my recollection from other uses is it leaves a residue, which seems like a dirt magnet. It's flammability and VOC are also negatives for me.

Hi Alex
I have a Märklin track-cleaning wagon and I don't use it anymore:
- it does not clean the studs, the ONLY part that can rust
- wiping the rail with a felt does not remove the dirt on the track, unless you leave the cleaning car in operation all the time. You need a hard-pulling loco to pull a consist including this car.

What I use is a grade 2000 or grade 5000 abrasive paper (used to polish bodywork on cars with water. It removes all the dirt and the grain is so small that no groves are created in the rail or on the studs.

Contact issues are often caused by other things that need addressing:
- poor axle contact on locos (especially those with few axles). Cure: a tiny drop of oil (use an hypodermic seringe), let the loco run, clean the residue from the axle
- of course, wheels must be very clean (use a cotton swab with Isopropyl alcool
- sliders: worn, non-flat, surface metal treatment gone, dirty zone between the spring and the slider-shoe. All this calls for a slider replacement
- occasional vacum-cleaning of tracks helps a lot.

Cheers
Jean