Clean track and perfect running

[billtee]

Although I laid my O gauge finescale track as smooth as possible, some very short wheelbase 0-4-0 locomotives just would not even complete one circuit of my ‘roundy-roundy’ DCC layout without at least one brief stop (especially over pointwork). So I tried rubbing a very soft graphite stick on the top of the rails, and the running of all my engines has improved vastly. I don’t get sound drop-outs, hesitations or unplanned sudden stops any more, and cleaning the rails is a thing of the past! Try a stick of graphite (with track and power OFF!), and you will be amazed!

Bill

[Robert Stokes]

This is rather surprising, as I would have assumed that the graphite would make the track slippery.

 

Robert

[F-UnitMad]

  There's another current thread going on this subject -

Interesting mix of replies, from those who (like me & the OP) have tried it & know it works, and those who haven't - but who have plenty of advice on why it shouldn't be done either.

[Andy Reichert]

1 hour ago, billtee said:

Although I laid my O gauge finescale track as smooth as possible, some very short wheelbase 0-4-0 locomotives just would not even complete one circuit of my ‘roundy-roundy’ DCC layout without at least one brief stop (especially over pointwork). So I tried rubbing a very soft graphite stick on the top of the rails, and the running of all my engines has improved vastly. I don’t get sound drop-outs, hesitations or unplanned sudden stops any more, and cleaning the rails is a thing of the past! Try a stick of graphite (with track and power OFF!), and you will be amazed!

Bill

 

If your 0-4-0 has a rigid chassis, then where it stops consistently is more indicative of the real reason. "As smooth as possible" is not a known method for making 12 v electricity jump 0.001 mm gaps. Temporarily filling gaps with graphite dust is a temporary bypass.  It's almost impossible to get more than 3 wheel pick-up from an 0-4-0 with a rigid chassis on track laid by a human.

 

Andy

[F-UnitMad]

A rigid-chassis 0-6-0 manages a bit better on track 'laid by a human' - me in this case, & not laid 'as smooth as possible' in any way whatsoever 

These locos still probably only have 3 wheels in rail contact, at times!!! 

 

[billtee]

I agree with F-UnitMad, as I also have an 0-6-0 loco which has a sticking pickup on the centre axle (which I can’t fix because I don’t know how to remove the superstructure). This loco (a GWR 1361 saddle tank) used to be a dreadful runner, but since the graphite treatment, it runs perfectly! I will be ‘testing’ all my locos every day for a while to see how long the improvement lasts.

I laid my track on 1/16” thick cork (to give a slight shoulder to the track), and used a 3ft steel rule to ensure the rails were flat longitudinally. I couldn’t do much about the large gap in the rails at the frog in the Peco turnouts, hence the Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tank loco used to stop mostly at these points. My track is nailed down but only loosely, to keep track where I want it, and my ballast holds everything firm after the PVA dries.

Bill

[Mick Bonwick]

17 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

  

Interesting mix of replies, from those who (like me & the OP) have tried it & know it works, and those who haven't - but who have plenty of advice on why it shouldn't be done either.

 

Like so many other topics on this forum. 

[The Johnster]

I have very good running (perfection is for none but Allah), using mostly 6-coupled all wheel pickup RTR rigid chassis, carefully but by no means perfectly laid track, and insulfrog turnouts.  I clean track, wheels, and pickups only when problems arise, and believe (with no evidence) that frequent running in a heated and ventilated dehumidified domestic environment is the underlying cause of my success this matter.

 

 

[DCB]

11 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I have very good running (perfection is for none but Allah), using mostly 6-coupled all wheel pickup RTR rigid chassis, carefully but by no means perfectly laid track, and insulfrog turnouts.  I clean track, wheels, and pickups only when problems arise, and believe (with no evidence) that frequent running in a heated and ventilated dehumidified domestic environment is the underlying cause of my success this matter.

 

 

I concur, with the addition of advising to keep daylight off the layout if at all possible.

[The Johnster]

Daylight does not reach my layout, but this is a function of it's location rather than an intended result.  What is the problem with daylight, David; how does it affect running?  I can see that it might cause fading over time or expansion/contraction issues with direct sunlight through windows.  

 

It's actually located in a ground floor bay window, but as this room is the bedroom of my flat fronting to the street and I require both controlled lighting for the layout and privacy, there are blackout blinds over the lower 2/3rds of the windows which are only raised when I run the vacuum cleaner around in there to see what I'm doing.

[DCB]

For some reason the track seems to get much dirtier where sunlight gets to it. The shed has blinds permanently down  but there are two high level windows and I noticed that just the tracks where sunlight could get to them in high summer got really filthy where that which stayed dark didn't.  This on a mix of steel track and Nickel Silver points.  I put up a piece of board to shade it which helped.  

[The Johnster]

You might have discovered a new branch of physics, David!

[Yardman]

This appears in another topic "Graphite Treatment to Rails."

[billtee]

Nickel Silver rails are NOT the best for model railways, but they are easy to clean, they stay ‘bright’ for a long time, they are easy to bend and are relatively easy to paint. 
Stainless steel is perhaps the best material, but it is very difficult to obtain (if not completely impossible), the rails are very difficult to bend (not that I have ever tried!), and painting is, I have heard, very difficult because you need to use an undercoat.

I remember all of the above because many years ago I was offered some HO track in stainless steel, but I decided (probably for the better) to stay with Nickel Silver.

This rail material discolours (goes darker coloured) fairly quickly in sunlight, so that may be why it appears dirtier than rail which is kept, err, in the shade! My layout is in the well-insulated loft of my garage, and although I have two Velux windows for ventilation (especially in Summer), the blinds on the windows are kept closed to exclude any sunlight which might cause unwanted expansion of the rails, even though I have allowed small expansion gaps between each one-yard length.