# Cleaning wheels on locos



## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Hello
I figure I would run a train and spot some freight cars onto sidings tonight and I chose to run my Climax but there was one problem. Running it was very spotty, I have track power and the rails were clean but the wheels of the climax were filthy. I removed the smoke stack, balanced it on my knees and took a goo gone soaked paper towel to it and the filth came off. One problem I could only get 1\3 of the wheel at a time so I had to put it back on the track and slowly rotate it til I got to another dirty spot. Question what is the best way to really give these wheels a good cleaning. To lube it I use the top of the styrofoam packing box it came in as a cradle and lube away wihtout worrying about damage.
I have seen wire brushes that get connected to the track using alligator clips which activate the motor and turn the wheels. How well do these work?? Is there a better way?? What do you track powered guys use to clear the crude?? I have several engines that could use a good fast easy cleaning. 
Thanks. 
Todd


----------



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

With LGB locos, I place them upside down, on my work bench then connect alligator clips to the pick up skates. Then I simply turn the power on and clean the wheels with a cloth or cotton ball. Is there a place on your loco that you can do something similar? I've seen the brass brushes you mentioned, however I don't have any experience with them.


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

I have a foam-padded V-cradle. I set them upside down and using a 12 volt gel battery, use alligator clips to get the power to the pick-up shoes, truck wire clip attachment points, a couple pieces of brass wire shoved into the tender plug, unturning wheels, and on occasion, right on the spinning wheels themselves to get power to the motors to spin the wheels. I then use cotton swabs (Q-tips) dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the wheels as they spin.


----------



## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Here's what I use, works great for me!! Regal 

http://www.jaktool.com/Trackless_Rail_System.htm


----------



## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

When I was track power, I would put a paper towel over the rails put some rubbing alcohol or cleaner on the towel.
Then I would put my engine on the towel one truck at a time. Hold on to the engine turn the power on and let the
wheels spin on the towel. After they are clean turn the engine around and do the other truck.

Don


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

I use the G-scale wheel cleaner from Kadee. I set my loco up side down in my cradle attach the power wires to the Kadee brush cleaner and then touch the wheels with the wheel cleaner. It powers the loco wheels and cleans them as the rotate. Later RJD


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 27 Jul 2010 06:38 AM 
I use the G-scale wheel cleaner from Kadee. I set my loco up side down in my cradle attach the power wires to the Kadee brush cleaner and then touch the wheels with the wheel cleaner. It powers the loco wheels and cleans them as the rotate. Later RJD 

I have one of these as do many others in our club.

We all agree that it is a piece of junk that never/rarely gets used after the first attempt. If I clean the wheels with the Kadee cleaner and go back with alcohol (91%), it's as if I never used the Kadee cleaner.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Hmm, I have the Kadee cleaner and it cleans rust and thick crud from the wheels. 

I can use alcohol for grime removal. 

You cannot expect a wire brush to be "absorbent" like a cloth and cleaning solution. That said it will remove rust and a cleaning cloth will not. 

I have seen Kadee brushes with the brushes all mangled, and they would not clean a thing. 

I've seen Kadee brushes with so much grease and junk on them they would just smear it on the wheels. 

It has a lot to do with how you maintain your tools. 

For me, it's effective. 

Regards, Greg


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 27 Jul 2010 01:54 PM 
Hmm, I have the Kadee cleaner and it cleans rust and thick crud from the wheels. 

I can use alcohol for grime removal. 

You cannot expect a wire brush to be "absorbent" like a cloth and cleaning solution. That said it will remove rust and a cleaning cloth will not. 

I have seen Kadee brushes with the brushes all mangled, and they would not clean a thing. 

I've seen Kadee brushes with so much grease and junk on them they would just smear it on the wheels. 

It has a lot to do with how you maintain your tools. 

For me, it's effective. 

Regards, Greg 

I don't get rust. All I get is black sludge/grime/carbon. My Kadee cleaner is still like new because I gave up on it almost immediately.


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's how we do all those locos at the Chicago Botanic every night: 

Take you KD wheel cleaner and hook it to a throttle. Turn the loco over and touch the KD cleaner to the wheels to make the loco run. You're right, the silly thing is useless for cleaning wheels, but it is handy for making them run. Now, quickly dip the tip of a q tip in plain old alcohol. Press it against one of the wheels and roll it in your fingers while the wheel turns. You'll see the black gunk rub off on the swab. Dip the other end and use it on the same wheel. Get another Q tip for the next wheel and Bob's your uncle. I like to run the loco fairly slow while I do this.

Some of the guys soak the swabs in alcohol, but I find it quicker and easier to just touch it to the bottom of a can with about 1/8 inch of alcohol in it. Too much alcohol on the swab turns the black stuff into paint and it takes more swabs to clean up the mess. 

For cleaning track, we like the brown scotch brite pads best. Green ones work, but brown is easier.

Me? I don't bother to clean Madam Mallet's wheels.


----------



## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 27 Jul 2010 01:54 PM 
Hmm, I have the Kadee cleaner and it cleans rust and thick crud from the wheels. 

I can use alcohol for grime removal. 

You cannot expect a wire brush to be "absorbent" like a cloth and cleaning solution. That said it will remove rust and a cleaning cloth will not. 

I have seen Kadee brushes with the brushes all mangled, and they would not clean a thing. 

I've seen Kadee brushes with so much grease and junk on them they would just smear it on the wheels. 

It has a lot to do with how you maintain your tools. 

For me, it's effective. 

Regards, Greg My Roco, Bemo, Tillig and Liliput H0e (9mm gauge) stuff is cleaned regularly with one, swear by them.

Cleaning them is important, and if oil is an issue, contact cleaner on a rag works wonders, using the brush on another axel to power the model.

A win-win tool, at least for a guage 36mm less than the one you all are discussing!


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Todd, grease and grime will pollute any wire brush, I agree(d). 

You must not have any Aristo diesels! I have rusting problems with the wheels, guess I'm too close to the ocean. 

(going to solve that problem with SS wheels and SS tires real soon now) 

I found an additional way to keep my wheels clean, I degrease the tracks with a swiffer! My wheels are now clean and no problems except oxidation on Aristo locos with the plating worn through. Keeping the rails clear of grease keeps the wheels clean, and there's typically more grease on your entire layout than the wheels of the locos. 

Regards Greg


----------



## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

The only engine that I have that has consistent problems with wheels getting dirty is the Eggliner. Everything else has the shoes that ride on the rails. I found I can turn the wheels slowly without power when its time to clean them. My biggest beef is that if I don't also clean the rails prior to running the Eggliner, it picks up junk before it makes it around one loop of the layout. 

I have used alcohol and an occasional ScotchBrite pad on the wheels which seems to do a pretty good job. I have a sanding pad on a stick that I put a ScotchBrite pad on for cleaning the track - that seems to do the trick, or I can run the F7 and / or the Hudson around the track a few times and that seems to be almost as effective. 

I find it interesting the my HLW Sparky engine doesn't seem to have any problems with dirty wheels and it is a similar design to the Eggliner. 

Tom


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I cut the LGB old TCL rings into thirds and then use this to clean/polish the wheels. 

This cleaning ring can have LGB smoke/cleaner fluid added and it polishes, does not scratch the wheels. Small enough to get at the flanges also.


----------



## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Seems alcohol on a cotton bud is the way to go and put power to the shoes or pickups to slowly rotate the wheels. It doesn't seem that the kadee wire cleaner works all that well for cleaning but it does work for applying power. 
I didn't know about the brown scotchbrite pads. I will have to check those out. I use a green one on a pole sander but lately I haven't been able to find the longer ones 4x12 or so, to fit the sanding block. 
I have a mix of Bachmann and LGB engines and hope to be getting a USAT diesel soon. After reading these posts here does Aristocraft have a problem with their wheels losing the plating and then rusting? I have one Bachmann starter set engine that is a bit pitted but not rusted. Maybe you guys just run your trains more than I do and literally wear the wheels off them? 
Thanks for the info. Todd


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 27 Jul 2010 08:41 PM 
Todd, grease and grime will pollute any wire brush, I agree(d). 

You must not have any Aristo diesels! I have rusting problems with the wheels, guess I'm too close to the ocean. 

(going to solve that problem with SS wheels and SS tires real soon now) 


Regards Greg 

Plenty of Aristo diesels. Yes, their plating has largely flaked off, but I still don't get rust, just grime. I'm about 15 miles from the Pacific Pond with no intervening mountains (I can see the water, and on a clear day, Catalina from the next street over).

But then I use brass (not stainless) track that is cleaned with a drywall sander prior to use. Maybe the softer brass track is easier on the plating/wheels.


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

At the Botanic, we wear *everything* out. I've not noticed any trouble with unplated Aristo wheels, or even the completely de*&^%^ USAT wheels. Eggliner wheels get horribly dirty, I have no idea why, but clean easily, though they still look dirty. Aristo's Pacific has kindof a rough surface and is the hardest loco to clean. The LGB wheels also wear through their plating, but that doesn't seem to bother anything.

My old 0-4-0's would look like they were wearing through and exposing copper. The copper, however, could be cleaned off.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's a moot point about brass vs. stainless here Todd, if your plating has flaked/worn off, then you will have raw steel. 

As I pointed out, I am close the ocean, like 5,000 feet. So Aristo wheels rust in the air even under a covered patio. It also might be that the grime/oil on your rails and wheels is preventing rust, as well as being 15 miles inland. 

The point was that the base material of Aristo diesel wheels is steel, and under moist conditions, they will rust. The Kadee wire brush is very good at removing this rust. It also cleans thick deposits well. 

It seems that your particular situation has neither of these problems, just grime/grease. 

You should try a Swiffer some time, using the wet pads, the degreasing is unbelievable, and it's easy to use since it has a nice long handle and swivel head. 

Regards, Greg 
s


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 28 Jul 2010 06:47 PM 
It's a moot point about brass vs. stainless here Todd, if your plating has flaked/worn off, then you will have raw steel. 


Regards, Greg 
s 

Nope!









Magnets DON'T stick to the wheels on either of my two FAs, my FB, my RS-3, or my U-boat. (I guess you forgot to order the special "beach" wheels.") They do stick on the railbus, but the plating is still really nice on that one.


BTW, are you aware that your pilot wheel is derailed?


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Your stuff must be really old... lucky you. Current production is steel wheels. 

My RS-3 is the first one that came out with the insides assembled the right way around, I forget if that is 4 years ago. 

The wheels on my E8's are all plated steel. 

All new parts are steel. 

All current production is steel, with copper and then some shiny plate on top. I hesitate to call it chrome or nickel. 

Regards, Greg


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Must be running a lot of plastic wheels if you got that much junk on your rail. Later RJD


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

By the way Todd "lucky you" is literal... I wish mine weren't steel. I'd sure like to know when Aristo changed from the non magnetic metal (probably brass) to mild steel. Does anyone know? It's obviously more than 4 years ago. 

Regards, Greg


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By aceinspp on 29 Jul 2010 09:11 AM 
Must be running a lot of plastic wheels if you got that much junk on your rail. Later RJD 

Not a single plastic wheel is allowed on my railroad and I can't recall one ever being used on the railroad. One of the first things I did when getting in the hobby was to go to San Val and buy a lot of 50 wheel sets to replace those God-awful things.


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 29 Jul 2010 10:40 AM 
By the way Todd "lucky you" is literal... I wish mine weren't steel. I'd sure like to know when Aristo changed from the non magnetic metal (probably brass) to mild steel. Does anyone know? It's obviously more than 4 years ago. 

Regards, Greg 
George Schreyer would know. Think "blue" box.


----------



## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

The copper seen in plated wheels is electroplate thin, it's a bonding agent between the wheel and plating. 

Didn't the wheel change happen or begin with replacements for the 0-4-0? 

John


----------



## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

FILTHY FILTHY FILTHY !! I'm busy cleaning wheels on the locos. I connected a 4" piece of track to a small transformer and used rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. I flipped the loco over on a pad on my knees and worked on one truck at a time while touching the powered track to the other truck. Even the wheels that didn't look bad really suprised me with the amount of dirt on them. Things will be running nicely now. Thanks!


----------

