Thanks Matt,

At the moment, I'm focusing on getting the locos to run smoothly after many many years, my Malcolm Mitchel 43xx with a Portoscap motor is problamatic at the moment due to the wheel pickups which are on the main drivers and all the tender wheels, once that is sorted I'm going to check out the electrics to the track and point motors, it's eye opening how things can go pear shape after none use for a long time, but that's an interesting idea of yours, not sure though that I want all that work!

That's a bit like me Phil - my pickups are not making full contact and no, I haven't been used in a long time either……………

Good luch with it - maybe a video when you get it sorted ……………………..?  

Coming up Peter :)

Well, it runs,  there were some problems with the pickups and the couplng rods fouling against the piston rod frames now and again but everything seems ok now with this 25 year old :)

,…………… and the sound works👍

So, the locos work on the tester but when on a cleaned track not too good, the answer, the track has not been used for many years, cleaning the tops of the rails was not enough, so I had to clean the edge radius, the flanges of the wheels also make contact here especially around bends.

Track cleaning, my most hated job after ballasting 


 

About ten years ago I bought a CMX track cleaner, expensive at the time for £99, I see they've doubled in price now, but the idea was for a loco to drag it around for easy cleaning…only to find that because of the weight, none of my steam locos could push or pull it, so, I bought a diesel which did the job, but I also had to buy a Loksound decoder, I now find that the Loksound has blown a componant!

Unused nickel silver track takes on a yellow to brown tinge. The tarnish is due mainly to the zinc content and atmospheric pollution. Best removed with #800 or #1000 emery paper. More effective than abrasive pads and less damaging.

Nigel

Yes, rubber track cleaners are too rough, the CMX is ideal because it uses IPA etc. my track is phosphor bronze.

Just checking point control and the capacitor discharge.unit is blown, so one to be ordered.

At least you haven't found any track problems Phil, nothing worse than trying to replace a ballasted point.
 

😳😳😳 I haven’t checked the rails and point work yet Ed 

The loco sounds good Phil but I'm with you regarding the track cleaning.  A real chore but I too have a CMX which, whilst cheaper than today, cost a fair bit more than your £99 !!  I too haul it with a diesel.

I'm told the track rubber sold by DCC Concepts, being rubber and not garnet grit,  polishes the track rather than scraping it.  No idea if that's true because I've never used one.  I always rely on my CMX with IPA as the fluid.

 

The rubber blocks like Peco just scratch the rails, they're too abrasiv, now these are great, they give a polish and are cuttable and flexible.

Amazon.co.uk

It turns out that the discharge unit is ok it was not showing the output voltage because there’s a short somewhere in the point wiring which is worse because there’s 28 points including a three way and a double slip so some fun to be had trying to sort that lot out under the baseboard 😳

I wonder if those blocks are available on Amazon France Phil - Amazon UK normally won't ship to France.

They appear very similar to those sold by DCC Concepts - at least in their description ………………………..

Just checked and it appears something similar is over here but the French are much tougher than in UK - the finest grit they do is "240 Fine" !!!

 

I have a 240 grit with Garryflex and it's ok, not like the harsh Peco blocks, now, whether your French 240 is the same?

With keeping track clean, after not using the layout for over six months out in the workshop I was expecting to have to 'revive' the track. I first went round with a piece  of hardboard, with a spray of IPA on it, rough side down with gentle pressure  applied  to remove any crud/ dust build up. Then I ran my cleaner wagon round for several loops, again with IPA. After cleaning I was surprised how little crud there was! I remember the last time I had a cleaning session was probably a couple of months BEFORE it lay dormant and after that cleaning session I had treated the track with graphite. This seamed to help prevent oxidation on the track so I am keeping on with graphite treatment as it has definitely helped in track maintenance. I use Artists  Graphite block's, the purer the better, and it's  quick and easy to just run the oblong block around the track leaving a very fine coating which seals up any scratches or open pores on the track. It definitely  helps ! I find even if I can't  get out to run anything for a few weeks I can just go out, switch on and run without cleaning the track again first.

Cheers

Matt

Interesting Matt.

Is your track N/S or steel ?  I once tried with graphite but had little success.  Maybe I either used too much or not enough.  I remember being somewhat disappointed because I'd read great things about it and it didn't come cheap !!  Bear in mind half of me is Yorkshire and the other half is Scottish so anything over 10p is a total rip-off !!!