Restoring old track to its former glory?

[lukee]

Hi everyone. Now as I mentioned in another thread, I do plan to buy a lot of new track when I eventually set about building a layout. The thing is, I have loads of track that is perfectly fine structurally, but has a lot of surface tarnish. It's really dull looking, and no amount of washing and sanding (which I still don't think was a good idea) seems to do much really.

Track is expensive, and it seems such a shame to let all those pieces go to waste, especially points and crossings etc. So, does anyone know of anything that would remove the surface tarnish and restore the track to the beautiful, shiny stuff it was when I pulled it out of its packaging many, many years ago?

Thanks in advance everybody. :o

[southern]

if you have old hornby track just bin it.you cannot clean it up .get peco code 100 if you have older trains or code 75 for new trains. have you tried flexy track thats what most clubs use.

[lukee]

Cheers for that. I've considered using flexi-track, but because I'm a beginner, I'd rather stick to setrack for the time being. I'll look into PECO too. I wish there was some way of removing that tarnish, though. Still, I suppose if I do it gradually, I can get some new stuff in a jiffy. :cool:

[Bengunn]

Hi, Lukee,
When did you ever see bright shiny railway lines...? The main thing is their conductivity. If the lines are still carrying the power to your locos without problem everything should be OK. I don't know what equipment you have but try making yourself a little test lead with a battery, torch bulb and two pieces of wire. Then attach one end to the end of a rail while sliding the other end of the lead along the top of the rail. If the bulb lights up and is steady, no problem. If the bulb keeps flickering then the rail is probably pitted and needs replacing.

Once you have tested it all and - hopefully, found it is in good condition, you will need to paint it below the upper running edge, a brownish black with the occasional dab of dull orange-red thrown in (for rust!). Once in position it looks much more convincing!
As you say, rail is expensive so it's worth exploring every avenue before committing it to the bin. - and you will still need short lengths of single rail to lay in odd spots around the track layout where the 'permanent way' gang has discarded them - to be collected later! Along with the odd pile of old sleepers, of course!
Bengunn

[lukee]

Cheers for that man. I have test run my track, and the trains seem to stutter around a bit. I guessed this was because of tarnish and the like, but I dunno. Maybe it's the fishplates or somesuch. I just assumed that it was best to have shiny track so that it conducted to the wheels better. I wonder if I periodically ran a track cleaner on the layout, it'd make any difference? Cheers again. ;)

[rustynath]

Some of my track is getting a little dated now - but I find that as I run my train it stutters at certain points, so I just attack these areas with track rubbers etc untill my engine will travel freely.

[lukee]

Some of my track is getting a little dated now - but I find that as I run my train it stutters at certain points, so I just attack these areas with track rubbers etc untill my engine will travel freely.

Oh right, cool. I guess the best bet then is to lay down all the existing track as I want it, then test it thoroughly. Then, if some pieces aren't conducting properly, and no rubbing will help them, replace them. :)

[bypassm6]

I know its old fashion and frowned upon but it might help to clean your old track with metholated spirits (as we did in the 60s) then when dry use a track rubber to polish the tops. I did this recently with my 30+ years old track and modern trains run great as well as my old originals, Plus you don't have to paint rust on just grot.
No mixing the meths with cider:p :D
Ken

[lukee]

I had a think about all this and decided I should try and get a good bit of new track, at least for the main lines. I mean I have plenty of time to acquire the stuff, as the layout won't actually be built for ages. :)