Trackwork!

[bob turner]

First, great P-13 Pacific, Carey! Thanks! When they go by fast, those passenger cars look great!

When I see Carey’s videos, I think “Why don’t my trains run like that?”

Well, they do, but only if I go around and clean all the rail joiners and railheads, first with dry 320; then with oiled 320. That will last about a month. All the feral cats died, and the mice and rats take particular pleasure in peeing on the steel rails. We are trapping, peppermint oiling, ultrasounding - nothing works except really good, hungry feral cats. Problem there is that we cannot adopt more (they would out-live us) and in any case The Greek over- feeds everything.

Too bad raccoons don’t scare rats!

Anyway, top loop has a dead-smooth MM-2 pulling Lobaugh cars; next in has my dirtbag Pacific leading three Mobilgas tanks and a pair of cabeese; next down is the faithful All Nation NW2 and a string of Athearn box cars. And finally the inner 1 1/8” gauge loop has a Lobaugh Pacific and mostly Athearn cars. All run smoothly at any speed from “Run Carey” through crawl. I am good for a month. Almost time to learn to use You Toob.

[Carey Williams]

Hello Bob
Quite the wild life you have there ... Only dust bunnies invade here .

Sometimes the train dictates the speed you run .. ...
SP Pacific would not be crawling around if it were to be booking that timetable ...

I enjoy getting them to crawl ...but crawling does not always make an interesting video for the masses ..
Cheers Carey

[ScaleCraft]

Step one: obtain electrified fence unit.
Step two: connect to rails.
Step three: remove locos and lit cars from rails.
Step four: energize fence unit.

[Dennis Holler]

Closest I can come is I had a wild squirrel invade the basement a few years back! He ran round and round trying to find a way out. I tried to indulge him with some food to see if he wished to move in, however, he had no interest and kept asking where the door was! Luckily a friend had a trap and with a cracker and peanut butter he was soon on his way back to the great wide world he knew and loved! I decided to call him George after the Abbbominal snowman Bugs bunny cartoon and thus every squirrel I see is now George! I do actually have a video of him running through the basement as well....

[bob turner]

So for about two full months I have had four functioning test loops, and each day I try to get one lap on each, with smooth operation and no derailments. I think I am pretty successful.

I should know all this, but sometimes I have to re-learn stuff.

Number one - railheads have to be clean and shiny. I use a light coating of clipper oil on a small piece of 320 wet or dry sandpaper. I also have a track cleaning car, but I admit that the hand method is quicker and better.

Next, all rail joiners must be making solid electrical contact. They can obviously sit there and lose continuity all by themselves - so this time I have taken the time to slide them all back and forth, applying a little graphite spark plug lubrication as they slide. This way, my 14' x 27' loops can be fed with a single feeder wire without serious slow-down at the opposite point.

I love steel rail, but the best seems to be nickel silver, followed closely by brass. My outer loop is steel, and the rails indeed get a realistic coating of rust over the years, even under the rail joiners.

So tonight's contribution - if you have a railroad, clean the track often. Clean the wheels once in a while. Keep a light coating of clipper oil on the railhead. And try to run something now and then. My current trains include an MM-2 2-6-6-2, the Scale Craft Pacific, an old USH 0-8-0 in Southern green, and on the inner loop a Lobaugh Pacific converted to 1 1/8" gauge.

The mice have eased up for some reason - might be the peppermint oil - or the traps? and the new roof still does not leak.

[ScaleCraft]

There is still 1500 feet of track and 100 or so switches in my back yard.
Aluminum rail, some aluminum, some stainless joiners.
About 30 years it's been there, rain, shine, snow, squirrel shit.
Not once have we cleaned the rails or wheels.
Works fine.

[steamaheadstephen59]

I only use nickel silver rail. I do have a loop of old nickel silver plated brass rail, by Atlas. Its 18'x16' and doesn't give much trouble and has one feed ( crocodile clips ) I use it once or twice a week, I do give it an occasional light coat of INOX MX3. The 60'x20' loop is all Nickel Silver with one feed and I wasn't doing any thing to it. It just ran! no reel rodents to worry about, and no doubt South Australia's very dry climate helps.

[R.K. Maroon]

Our club layout uses steel rail exclusively. That was the standard when I joined the club in 2011. Dave ScaleCraft sent us a large bundle of used steel code 148 rail not long after, and that's what we used for the two-track mainline when we later rebuilt layout. Sure, you have to feed power to the track more often, but it's a portable layout, so have to feed it every four-feet anyway (we actually feed each rail on each module in two places to improve reliability). We have never had a problem with corrosion, perhaps because the oil drip off the wheels provides a coating. The oil does attract its share of grime, of course, so occasional cleaning is appropriate.

Jim

[bob turner]

Aluminum is apparently a better conductor than steel or nickel silver.

I have a scientific and electronic background, but have never heard of the unit "siemen". It is 1/Ohm, something I had heard of. Conductivity is measured in "siemens per meter."

But perhaps an easier way - just relate it all to copper:
Make copper 100%
Then aluminum is 61% as good
brass - 28%
nickel silver -7%
steel - 5-15%, depending on alloy

And if you are feeling wealthy, silver is 105%

that was the older way of looking at it (1914 or so . . .)

So use aluminum, like Dave did? They did make aluminum code 148 rail for a while. Cheaper, easier to work with, but not solderable.

I have not done the research on what a tiny layer of aluminum oxide would do to a rail power system - aluminum oxide is a way better insulator than rust - but perhaps it is overcome by the thinness of its protective layer on aluminum rail.

Or perhaps Dave is using battery/ RC power? That, my friends, is the solution. Radio Shack had it: a radio controlled car, complete with motor, battery, forward and reverse, and steering, for under $40. Not sure the batteries were included. Model trains have it too, but the system without the vehicle is closer to $500/locomotive. I shall keep cleaning track and wiggling the rail joiners.

[ScaleCraft]

30 years of radio/battery. Started with NiCads, now NiMH, no lithium fires here!
OLD Aus-made 27MC RCS, Sierra sound mostly, runs first time every time.

[webenda]

So use aluminum, like Dave did? They did make aluminum code 148 rail for a while. Cheaper, easier to work with, but not solderable.

It would be interesting if ScaleCraft Dave told us about how he did it.

[ScaleCraft]

Radio-battery. Self contained. Llagas Creek switches un-insulated. No wires to track, no feeders. All joiners are slip to allow for expansion and contraction. Most track screwed down.
Only issue has been large tree branches, impacting the rail.

[bob turner]

by ScaleCraft » Wed Apr 02, 2025 1:01 am

There is still 1500 feet of track and 100 or so switches in my back yard.
Aluminum rail, some aluminum, some stainless joiners.
About 30 years it's been there, rain, shine, snow, squirrel shit.
Not once have we cleaned the rails or wheels.
Works fine.

But see, Dave's comment was directly beneath mine, where I discussed problems with conductivity of the rails. It was easy to assume that Dave was indicating that he had no electrical problems using the rails to conduct power to his trains. I kind of guessed that he was comparing apples and oranges - and that turned out to be true.

I do not think you want to use aluminum for rails that conduct electricity. Apparently the oxide layer is ok for conductivity, but there is a black substance that seems to gather on the rail head - not unlike the black that gets on your cloth when you polish aluminum wheels on your hot rod, and that stuff does get in the way of good operation.

I have very little problem with brass, nickel plated brass, and nickel silver rails. The steel is great, too, if you keep it really clean and make sure those rail joiners are not sitting on rust. If I ever re-do the outer loop (not likely) it will be brass or nickel silver.

Wheels: I have found that steel is best. I have not run stainless, but I can tell you that brass or zamac wheels will gather crud to the point of causing derailments. And I am not a big-time operator. My steel wheels stay clean and shiny.

[ScaleCraft]

I have no electrical continuity issues on my backyard railroad!

[bob turner]

I hate to do this - it puts my name on three of the top four threads, probably for a week or more -

But I have been cleaning and wiggling rail joiners for a week, trying to get the outer loop trouble-free. In only one spot the locomotive hesitates - I thought it was conductivity.

This morning it came to a dead stop on the pesky area - and showed a short circuit! Not dirty track!
So tonight I did some dark running - arcs and sparks under an Athearn/All Nation Ice car. It had those neat underframe parts where the transverse ribs are doubled up.

Turns out the insulated wheels were touching the closest rib when the car went around curves - this, on a 74" radius curve! A teeny adjustment, and now I have a smooth running steel outer loop. I do like the Athearn/All Nation box and ice cars better than the Lobaugh - they are more robust, even if steel and not brass. I never cared for the Lobaugh roof, done in shim stock, and in three pieces. But now I know to look carefully at how the trucks are mounted.

Since most O Scalers use plastic trucks and wheels, this is probably not of much interest - but I thought I should share . . .