I've always been of the school of thought that track and wheels need to be cleaned regularly to both provide good electrical connection and good running. However, I'm beginning to wonder. Why is this? Well, the last three exhibitions that "James Street" has attended has seen as good running as ever, over probably nearly 50 hours, and no rolling issues. Given that the layout is very large, with over 250 points, and has close to 1000 bits of stock running on it, that is good in itself. BUT - Steve hasn't cleaned the track since March, and we've not cleaned much stock at all, 5% at most. I'm not saying we didn't have to get the track cleaning sticks out at all at these shows, but they weren't used any more than at previous shows. Have I been missing something or have we all been wasting our time? The layout has been stored between shows either in Steve's garage or in the van, while the stock is is open cassettes stored in my room. Any theories?

Dave

Interesting question.  At home I clean track occasionally though if a couple of loco0s stick or hesitate at common places I will clean that area immediately.  Always clean track immediately before stocking my own or club layouts at a show.

AS for stock, very rarely.  With no plastic wheels on wagons, there is not the clag they seem to attract. So they and coaches very rarely get attention.  Locos might if they are getting consistently sticky

Must admit I wasn't surprised on reading the comments regarding James Street as it is similar to my own findings.

I only clean Hiilsdens track once / twice a year, it is run in some form most days, certainly believe use helps keep the track clean.

Stock wheels only clean if there is an accumulation of dirt evident.

I find the trackwork on my exhibition layouts certainly remains clean over the weekend of a show, and only needs a light rub with a cloth to remove condensation rather than dirt if it's been sat in a hall overnight.

In between shows the layout may spend months crated up and stored away in a garage, and usually benefits from a light burnishing of the rails but nothing major.

Locos selected for a show are checked over and given a light wheel clean on the Minitrix block.  Rolling stock wheels get a clean from time to time if I remember or if I notice crud has built up, though mostly it tends to be newly purchased second-hand stock which needs it.

A guy I used to know when I was in the BRMA (don't ask my opinion of that organisation) used to say, "Run trains and run them often," implying that kept everything clean.

I think that there's probably some truth in that.

I would think cleaning is only required when layouts have been rested for some time.

In my case the layout has recently been under more construction and no trains have run for a considerable time. Once all the splodge work has been finished a thourough clean will take place.

Stock has been in boxes so should be clean.

Running often, as on real rails keeps them shining bright!

GE

Haha, I had my reasons, which I did elaborate on here some years ago. I can't remember where, though and can't be bothered searching for it, that's how disillusioned I was with them.

Shame, I guess - I was actually an area rep for a while, and had a regular column in their magazine. However, let's just say it wasn't for me.

I'm in the don't clean very often camp.
I give my layouts maybe one or perhaps two cleans a year and this seems to work.
That doesn't mean that the odd spot requires attention from time to time but as a general rule things run quite nicely with little attention.

Do all in the 'not very often' camp use DCC?

I ask because I'm sure I remember when DCC first came out that one of the pluses was that you didn't have to clean the track as often or something like that 

So does it make a difference to how often you need to clean if you use DC or DCC?

@NScaleNotes   I'm a DC user.   To be honest general opinion is DCC needs the track and pickup wheels to be kept scrupulously clean (more so than DC) to ensure the signal isn't corrupted. On the other hand the constant full track voltage is of some benefit for continuity.

The bottom line for me is that track and wheel cleaning is certainly not a waste of time and there's positive benefit in maintaining cleanliness, but experience has shown me that with regular use my trackwork maintains acceptable cleanliness for the duration of a 2 day or 4 day show. Unfortunately when not at exhibitions my layouts are stored away, so when they come out ready for testing that's when a light burnishing prepares them for use.

James Street is pure DC, so the fact it runs so well without cleaning is a real surprise to me. However, having seen the troubles with Pete Waterman's Making Tracks layout at GETS where they had huge wi-fi issues it's clearly not only dirty track that stops DCC working.

No-one has yet really come up with why JS should be so good without cleaning, so I'n still a bit in the dark. Maybe it is a result of good tracklaying as much as anything?

Dave

On DC I've found loco wheels stay clean, indeed more specifically, current collecting wheels say clean.

Unpowered wheels tend to pickup a lot of black dirt though.

Track is very dependent on ambient dust etc, and does dirty up over time, but relatively slowly. I do tend to run the Tomix hoover wagon over periodically, and the amount of dust it shovels up is continually surprising.

The performance of wheels I don't really know the reason for - it's clear that the current flow must have some influence, but the mechanism of this is not clear to me.

I am however ruthless at keeping models off the track that come to me in poor wheel condition, i.e. oily, dirty, worn - these are all dealt with before allowing any usage - and new models are also fully checked, as sometimes these can be over-done with lubricant/grease.

Cheers,
Alan

Personally, I prefer to regularly clean the track and I do not have any running issues, also I check and clean/service my locos on the run up to any shows unless I know they have been recently done. I also go through and check/clean the rolling stock wheels before each show as well. Little point in keeping the track clean if the wagon wheels are smeggy!
I rarely have running issues at shows and when I do it is more likely to be specific locos causing issues - quickly replaced on the layout and sorted at home.

Best wishes
Simon

Dave @Southerngooner - I've been dealing with ionizing radiation on orbiting satellites recently - an incredibly complex issue actually - and the random thought occurred to me that the ionizing environment on a layout might be partially responsible for attracting dirt - or in this case, not.

There is actually a surprisingly complex and dynamic electro-magnetic environment on a layout. The current passing through the wires and rails and the electro-magnetic field generated by locomotive motors all in such close proximity whenever a train goes by, together with the way different materials in the track, ballast and baseboard might all interact, could go some way towards explaining why some layouts need more frequent cleaning than others.

It's a long shot for sure, but I wonder if there's something about the way you guys ballasted James St. that helps in some way? Could you describe the track laying process and products you use? And your regular cleaning process too?

Ross.

My layout was built in 1981 its 20ft x 8ft double track and some lf the points  are the original ones and its in a big shed .
I clean my track once a year and then use a soft graphite stick ,
I then attend to the odd point blades as required the layout gets a good running session at least once a week and then odd times when I go down on my own .
I do have stock with plastic wheels and they do need cleaning now and then depending on how often they are used but only once or twice a year at the most .
I do have a Tomix track cleaner but its useless as a cleaner but a fantastic vacuum cleaner .
When I first started running the layout I only had old Poole built stock and I used a High Frequency Track cleaner but thats been disconnected over ten years ago as I do have some more modern stock and a
H F T Cleaner is a definite NO GO as it burns out modern motors or blows the lights ,how do I know ask a couple of guys who USED to visit me and run the layout a few years ago .
Bob