santa fe flyer problem

[pewman]

dear mr. bach-man or to whoever else who can help me,

i have recently got my santa fe flyer train set, (maybe 1-2 years ago) and now the engine turns on and off around the track. whenever it passes by my nose when i inspect it, i can hear a faint crackling sound and a smell of battery. any idea what i should do? :-( it also sort of hesitates over the rail with the power wire input. it might be the track, too. i have seen some 'rust' or something on it, sort of grey-ish in appearance.

the rails, you can sort of see the grey area.

thanks if you can help!
by the way, hi everyone. :-)

[Doneldon]

pm-

I am guessing that your track and loco wheels are dirty. You can clean the track with a course rag soaked with isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol. Dampen the rag and rub it briskly on the top and inner surface of your railheads. You can also use a Bright Boy, available at most hobby shops. Do not use an abrasive, especially steel wool as abrasives will make your track get dirty faster and steel wool can wind up in your morot, ruining it. You have steel rails rather than nickel-silver. Buy the N-S in the future for better performance with less maintenance.

Wheels are a little more difficult. Make a pad with a DRY rag and put some of your loco's drive wheels on it while touching the others to the track. With a diesel this is easy as you can do one truck at a time. It's a bit trickier with a steamer. (Plus, with a steamer you'll also need to clean your tender wheels.) You can also clean your wheels by using a Q-tip dampened with alcohol and touching wires from your power pack to your pick up wheels so the ones you are cleaning rotate. You can use a little alcohol for this operation but not for the on-track cleaning as you'll have enough alcohol there that a spark could start a fire big enough to cause damage. The Q-tip won't hold a dangerous amount of alcohol even if a spark does light it up. BUT: DO THIS ON A FIRE SAFE SURFACE AND HAVE WATER THERE SO YOU CAN QUICKLY DUNK THE q-TIP INTO IT IF IT DOES IGNITE.
                                                                                                         -- D

[jward]

for cleaning the wheels, i lay a paper towel soaked in goo gone or rubbing alcohol across the rails and place one truck at a time on the towel. holding the locomotive in place, i turn up the power to full throttle and let the wheels spin. when one truck is clean, i turn the locomotive around and do the other.

as for flammability of rubbing alcohol. i've not found it to be a problem. just make sure you don't use denatured alcohol.  that will burn with an invisible flame, and catches fire much easier than rubbing alcohol. it will also remove the paint from your locomotive.

[pewman]

thank you.. i will try both of your suggestions. :-) and will a simple bath towel work? i believe it is cotton..

[pewman]

thank you both so much! :-D my train is running as new.. now i have learned one way to take care for my tracks. thanks again!