Thanks much guys for all your good suggestions and comments.  We all have an opinion as to what will or won't, or shouldn't be done.  Years ago when I was in HO scale I was using brass track.   Then DCC came along and I decided to try it but was told that DCC would  not work with brass rail.  I did not see or agree with their reasoning.  5Years and 2 layouts later I was still running DCC on brass rails.  I switched over to nickle silver rail when I decided to hand lay all 600' of track.

Point is I like proving that not everything you hear or read is hard fact.  That is where I am on the wet or dry 400 grit sandpaper.  If it takes a high powered magnification to show up the "scratches" from the sandpaper, then they are much to fine for road dust to get into.  Take a look at new rail and you will find it is a long way from being perfectly smooth and will be full of casting marks.

I will  never  live long enough to have "polished" rail from the green pads so why worry about it.  Thanks again guy and I fully respect your opinions and comments.  But I guess there is nothing I can put on the rail to help keep them clean.

Roger

Quote from: Chuck N on August 05, 2014, 02:15:17 PM
I'll second Joe's suggestion.  I have been using a green Scotchbite pad on a dry wall sanding pole for over 30 years.  It is easy, quick and simple.  No bending down, just walk around the layout pushing it ahead of you.  Cleans off debris too.

I do not recommend sand paper.  Regardless of the grit size.  It will scratch the rail leaving more places for things to accumulate.

Chuck
Note added later.

This is what Joe and I are referring to.











The colors in the picture are poor of the pad.  It is a bright green.  The maroon pad will scratch the track.

Some times I have to pull the pad back and forth to remove the oxidation.  When all else fails, I bring out my LGB track cleaning engine.  It requires monitoring.  If it stalls and the motor keeps going it will grind divots in the track.

Chuck

I disagree on the sandpaper scratching the brass rail.  400 or finer grit wet or dry sandpaper has been used extensively for years as the final sanding before painting by auto body shops.  It is also a good choice for the final sanding to REMOVE scratches on fine hard wood furniture.  A nicely worn 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper does a great job of POLISHING the rails. 

If that track cleaning engine will grind divots in the rail is is much more harsh and leaves a lot more scratches than any 400 grit sand paper could ever think of leaving.

I appreciate your comments but believe your off track on what wet or dry sandpaper will or won't do.

Thank you.    Roger

Thanks for all the good information from you guys.  So far, I am not having the conductivity problem associated with the alum/brass joints.  It is basically keeping the top of the rail clean for transfer of power from rail to wheels.

I have thought about battery power but that is cost prohibitive, even for a couple engines. 

One thing that I just thought of that has not been mentioned is to use an old sock (or similar) on the sanding pole with WD-40.  WD-40 will remove tar, bugs, etc. from your vehicle finish with out any harm so why not use it to clean the rail?  Going to give it a try, but not today.  Track got washed off my mother nature this morning with 3/4" of much needed rain.

Thanks again.    Roger

I have my garden railroad on the only fairly level ground on the property.  Unfortunately it is next to a gravel road and the road is on the South.  Road dust (lime dust) is a real problem during the dry summer months.  I have Brass rail and some curves with aluminum rail.  When the rail are coated with dust and a heavy dew at night the rails get real dirty and oxidized.  It takes 400 wet or dry sandpaper to get them clean again.  Is there anything that can be put on the rail so they will wipe clean with a cloth and denatured alcohol?  I won't use any oil base product as it will compound the problem with the dust-oil mixture.  Would appreciate any advise anyone wants to share.  Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Well, we live and learn don't we.  At least part of the time.  Thanks for that explanation 671.  I didn't realize that a diode would drop the voltage that much.  Going to order some diodes and get the soldering iron hot.  Cheaper to pay the shipping on them than it is to drive 70 miles to a RS store to get them.

Roger

I am not an electrical engineer, but diodes regulate the direction of flow of electricity.  That is how they regulate if the front or rear light is illuminated on a loco.  I fail to see how a diode bridge or any other diode configuration will lower voltage any noticeable amount.  That is not what diodes are designed for.

As for running out of fluid, the loco I am working with has a rather large fluid tank, about 3" long, 1/5" wide and 3/4" deep so it would run for some time before it ran out.  Now some of the Bachmann smoke units would only hold few drops and are a pain to try and keep fluid in them.

I am going to try running the smoke unit with 9V from a battery and see what happens?

Thanks for all your input.

Rog

Chuck, your right in that adding more power to smoke unit would probably burn it out.  I don't need more power to the smoke unit, I need less power to the motors while maintaining the power to the smoke unit.

Bachmann smoke units are relatively tough as far as burn out is concerned, as long as one stays in the proper power range.  If you race the engine with no fluid in the smoke unit, yep it will go up in smoke.

I would guess that a 1/2 watt resistor in line with the motor feed would be heavy enough.  What resistance (ohm) would be a good starting point?  The shell isd a real pain to remove and install for to much trial and error.

Thanks much for your comments and suggestions.

Roger

Has anyone come up with a good way to reduce the engine motor speed in order to have the smoke unit operate most of the time?  I did away with the standard bulb headlamp and put in a large bright white LED powered by 2 AA batteries in the belly hold on my F unit.  A switch on the side turns the light on and off.  The 2 batteries should last the year with no problem.

Now I would like to have smoke about all the time.  Not sure which way to go.  A resistor in line to the motors, or a 9V battery to power the smoke unit.  Not sure 9V would be enough power or how long it would last.

Would appreciate any thoughts or a solution to this.  Once the F unit is taken care of will move on the Heavy Hauler steam unit.

Roger

Thanks much.

Since I have all my road bed rock in place I think I will run the wires directly under the rock since this will allow for minimal intrusion of the rock road bed.  Should last for several years if I keep them out of the sun and plenty of drainage.  Thanks for you input and information.

Rog

What is the most common method to turn the wires from you switch to the turnout?  I have my track laying on a 2 X 6 roadbed as most of it is elevated some to get the track somewhat close to level.  I am thinking of running the wires along the side of the roadbed where they will be covered with 3/8" rock.

  They will be exposed to some moisture as rain water will run off and filter down through or later run across the top of the rock. 

   I don't think the plastic coated will deteriorate under these conditions.  Anyone have a better idea?  The longest run to the switch is about 50'.

Along those same lines what gauge wire should I use?  I 20 or 22 gauge heavy enough to run the turnouts?

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.

Rog

I Joe and thanks for the information.  That helps a bunch on the Aristo curve size.  A G scaler is selling out a lot of his equipment and track the end of May on a silent auction.  Has min bid on all of it.  He has a lot of turnouts and curved track listed.  The LGB are all listed at 1200, and 1605.  The Aristo also has several listed as 1605 both left and right.  Probably has close to 25 turnouts in all.  Most are in the $25 to $35 starting price.

I only have two that I will power and they are both LGB I think as they have the orange and white dot by the hook up.  Slowly, I am getting some of this sorted out.  When it quits raining here and warms up again it will get out there and work on it some more.   Have had rain for 5 days straight and temp is down to 40° this morning.  SW Iowa is a little soggy right now and NE of us in the Des Moines area have had a lot more.  Thanks for the info and keep them on the rails.

Rog

Thanks much Chuck.  THAT is what I was after.  Been looking at LGB and Aristo.  Aristo curves seem to be all numbered: 1200, 11205, 1205,1210, 1550, etc.  Don't really tell a guy what he is looking at unless he has their book in front of him and then they don't always say the diameter.

Going to get all my extra track down and see what I have for sure.  May just start bending the curve I want while it is raining out for the nest couple days yet.  I know I have a bunch of aluminum flex stashed away that has some curve in it.
Thanks again for the info on the LGB.  going to keep that on file for sure.

Rog

Thanks for the link Joe.  I have tried to use different CAD programs in HO and it takes way to much time to learn how to use them for what you get.  I would have to spend a lot of time to get all the measurements of my existing track where I want to tie in at.  Then get that all down on the program screen.  Then spend another week trying to learn how to run the CAD program.  Sorry but that is not for me.   I want to run trains not learn to become a computer programmer.

Rog

I need to make some changes on my outdoor layout to get longer curves on one end.  I have been looking at curved track and turnouts trying to figure out which track and turnouts I need.  How can I know what I am getting by the variety of numbers in the different listing for different brands?  Some give me a R-1.  Some 300 mm.  Some 1100 and so on.  Most of the turn outs say nothing or possibly mention long.  And then one will throw in a 22.5° or a 30° or something like that.  I am completely in the dark unless I have it in hand and lay it where I want it and it is either to short, to long or will work.

Rog

Thanks for the good information.  I guess I won't worry about car weight until I have a problem.  It is the norm to run your heavy car near the front and the light weight cars at the rear.  Same applies in HO scale.  If I stick around long enough you guys might teach this old codger a thing or town about G scale railroading.

Rog