What do you do to clean locomotive wheel treads

[carmelmodelrr]

I don’t know if it is the weather but my locos are picking up a lot of dirt on their treads.  Short of disassembling the trucks, which is really difficult on recent Atlas and BLI locomotives, then cleaning the treads, what do you find most effective(and relatively easy)?  I have the Walthers Tidy Track but it doesn’t seem effective.

Thanks in advance.

Carmelmodelrr

[Maletrain]

For diesels without traction tires, I think most of us just put solvent on a paper towel, put that on the track, put the truck of one end of the loco on the towel and apply power to spin the wheels.  When no more black crud comes off, just swap ends and do the same.

Non-powered trucks on steam locos and their tenders are another issue, as are powered wheels that have traction tires.

For steam locos, I tend to put them in a cradle and power them with clips on other (tender) wheels that have electrical pickup, while I hold a bit of solvent saturated towel against one driver after another.  But, I try to minimize the amount of solvent I put on traction tires.  They don't pick up current, anyway.  But, they can put dirt back on the track.

For non-powered wheels such as on tenders, I usually take them out of the trucks and clean them by hand, then put them back in the trucks.  Same with other rolling stock.  (PITA, but most effective.)

[peteski]

If the wheel treads are really dirty, I first use this very hand brass brush wheel cleaner. It works really well and it does not seem to damage any traction tires.



Then I use this contraption to do wet cleaning (the paper towel is moistened with 99% Isopropyl alcohol, but denatured alcohol should work too).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that  my wheel cleaning system also works well for rolling stock with metal wheels.
I hold a piece of rolling stock upside down in one hand and  with the other hand I run the brush over the wheels applying gently pressure. The bristles rotate the wheels while scraping the treads . Next I place the car in the track with the moist towel and again push back and forth it over the towel area.  For plastic wheels I skip the brush treatment.

[nkalanaga]

I have one of those wire brush cleaners, and also my own contraption.

All it is, is two pieces of copper wire, probably about 24 gauge, from on old-style computer/telephone system cable, connected to an even older power pack.  Copper is softer than the nickel-silver wheels, so won't damage them, and the ends can be held at whatever angle best removes the "crud".

It also works very nicely to test motors and lights.

[robert3985]

I've been using the Kadee #236 Speedi Loco Driver Cleaner for several decades, but it's almost worn out after all these years...along with IPA soaked paper towels on my test track.

Looking at the Minitrix plop-on soft brass cleaner and Peter's paper towel contraption (very clever) makes me think maybe it's time to update my wheel-cleaning tools!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

My Minitrix brass-brush cleaner is permanently mounted on the edge of the layout in one town - with a garage/storage building covering it.  Take the building off, clean the wheels, put the building back.  It's wired to the accessory power supply (10 volts DC) so it doesn't matter what the trains are doing.

The way it's mounted it's out of sight, but can't get lost, and is always ready to use.

[peteski]

Looking at the Minitrix plop-on soft brass cleaner and Peter's paper towel contraption (very clever) makes me think maybe it's time to update my wheel-cleaning tools!

Just a bit of a warning: My Minitrix wire brush wheel  cleaner is let's say, vintage.  The same item is currently available,  but since Trix was acquired by Marklin it is now under Marklin/Minitrix name (and  it is white, not green).  However like with most "new and improved" things I encounter in my life, it is neither.  The brass wire bristles are much coarser (stiffer) than the original.  Not as good as the original one.  I would recommend lookign for a used one out there, with the green body.

The wet paper towel cleaning station idea was cribbed from my friend (I don't know if he came up with it on his own or copied someone else). But I improved it by adding the brass wire holders on both sides (his only has one in the center between rails), and I also glued couple of styrene strips on the outside of the rails and sanded them flush with the rails.  Plain railhead is much narrower than most N scale wheel treads, so the extra width should contact the complete thread width.

I should retake that photo because it shows new pristine paper towel square.  It does turn quite dark after the cleaning.  And as it is likely obvious, once dirty, the brass retainers can be partially lifted and paper towel can be moved slightly to start with fresh area of the towel.