Cleaning Track In a Photo

As I've mentioned on the blog and website previously, the Richmond Terminal has just under 10 scale miles of mainline track.

In general, it does not require much maintenance beyond a vacuum here and there, mostly to get any construction dust off.

I cut wood and homasote outside, but that doesn't stop having to drill pilot holes for screws to mount fascia or LCC nodes, install signals, etc. All that little stuff that requires a drill creates some dust.

After reading an article on Model Railroad Hobbyist about polar and non polar solvents, I decided to clean my track with "odorless" mineral spirits, instead of the normal isopropyl alcohol, as it turns out that isopropyl is a very polar solvent that will attract dirt and dust, whereas mineral spirits aren't all that polar and don't.

I started with a paint clean up rag. You can see the splash of brown in the center.

I promise the majority of the rag was white when I started.

I didn't scrub, I just rubbed this lightly across the track.