Inherited Layout needing some TLC advice

[curly]

Hi Guys
my wife inherited her fathers N Gauge layout, its a 3 track layout using peco with a gaugemaster model D controller.  It had a Farrish GWR pannier tank with it along with dozens of building etc - a really nice setup.
However
Its been in his garage unused for the last 4 or 5 years and I got it all put back up but the little tank stops at least once every circuit and the new farrish larger loco (forgive me a cant remember what its called) really struggles to get round.  T pannier tank goes again with a tap but the bigger loco needs quite a push.
I think the tracks possibly need a good clean from being in a cold garage all those years but would like some advice on where to start as I dont want any harm to come to these engines as the motors do have a smell to them after a couple of laps.
Thanks in advance
Ian

[hairygit]

The track will almost certainly need cleaning before doing anything else. Search track cleaning in the search box (near top right of forum pages) and many people have done articles on how to go about it, personally I use IPA (isopropyl alcohol) although you could also use methylated spirit or similar. After that, check out for threads on wheel cleaning, I've seen a few good ones on here. And welcome by the way!

[Dr Al]

I dont want any harm to come to these engines as the motors do have a smell to them after a couple of laps.

If the motors smell then almost certainly means they are getting hot and therefore need an overhaul and maintenance. Best not to run for any extended periods of time until this is done.

Best,
Alan

[Newportnobby]

Welcome to the forum, Curly
As others have said, the track needs to be cleaned as a priority and then the locos will need a good clean before running for any period of time. If you can post some pics of the locos maybe we can help with how best to do that.

[bluedepot]

hello and welcome

best of luck getting the layout running smoothly


tim

[curly]

  for all your welcomes and advice. 
I do quite a bit of 1/10 RC car racing and we use a lot of lighter fluid and brake cleaner for cleaning - either of those ok for track cleaning?
Heres a couple of pics of what we have

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My favourite - the little pannier tank

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This is the one the wife chose the other day from spot on models (GWR Winchester Castle), its used but in good nick and we did see it running - this is the one that struggled to get round without a lot of help

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This one came with the setup but unfortunately Reg had a bit of trouble with it and it is seized solid - I hope to be able to reinstate it in due course

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[Dr Al]

Lighter fluid will be fine for track cleaning.

Bear in mind that you may need to use something like a track rubber depending on how long it's been stored and how dirty or tarnished the track therefore is.

Cheers,
Alan

[Pengi]

  Curly, nice looking layout

[d-a-n]

Hi Curly, welcome to the forum! It's good to see you're having a play with these locos on a decent looking layout. Lighter fluid will be fine for cleaning the track, although it could leave an oily residue which isn't that big a deal (Isopropyl alcohol is the cleanest cleaner in this respect) - when you wrote brake cleaner, I read it as brake fluid...!
Where are you located, you may find there are some N gaugers on your doorstep!

[curly]

Cheers guys, I'm in Hullavington - just outside Chippenham Wilts

[Griffo]

Aerosol brake cleaner can have weird and definitely unwanted effects on some plastics . Working in a Vauxhall dealer I once used a can to clean out a dot-matrix invoice printer only to watch the plastic printer head rack and pinion disintegrate into small plastic shards as soon as the spray hit the plastic. Although it was a superb cleaner on rubber, metals and even semi-flexible plastic car trims I would NEVER use it on hard plastics again unless I had the opportunity to try it on a sample of the same type of plastic beforehand!

Steve

[EtchedPixels]

Isopropyl alcohol is probably a bit safer for the plastics in the track and for the scenery. That combined with bits of scrap balsa or the rough side of cereal packed cardboard does wonders, especially with a little bit of elbow grease thrown in ...

[Bealman]

In my case throw contortions in with the elbow grease  :'(

Nice little layout you've inherited there, Curly!  Those pannier wheels look like a bit of a clean wouldn't do them any harm, either.

G.

[curly]

Thanks Everyone, picked up a track rubber in town which made a huge difference, there is a couple of areas now that the train stops if going below 40% so needs a bit more work.  The pannier tank wheels were minging so I used an RC product I forgot about, it's from Schumacher and is Bearing Blaster and Motor Cleaner, I sprayed it onto a cotton bud rather than directly but that did quite a good job of cleaning.