That Time of Year Already....

[tehachapifan]

....where bolster pins start dropping out of metal frame cars and the train can't go around the layout more than once before having to clean the track again.

Word to the wise......NEVER BUILD A LAYOUT IN A NON-CLIMATE-CONTROLLED GARAGE....ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE OCEAN!

[davefoxx]

I feel your pain.  I have to clean my track at least a few times per week in the spring, summer, and fall.  My layout is in the basement, and the dehumidifier must put something into the air that gets on the track.  I replaced the old dehumidifier this summer when it died, and the track is noticeably better.  But, I'm still required to clean the track too often, in my opinion, despite the new dehumidifier.  Interestingly, in the wintertime, when the dehumidifier barely runs, I can go a few weeks between track cleanings.  And that's when the oil-fired furnace is running.  Go figure.

DFF

[tehachapifan]

Thanks, Dave. My guess is you live somewhere where the humidity is higher in and around the summer months and lower in the winter. Here it is just the opposite.

I just ordered some NO-OX-ID. Going to see if that helps.

[davefoxx]

You guessed it.  I live in the DMV (Delaware/Maryland/Virginia area), and it gets very humid in the summertime.  Let me know how that NO-OX-ID works.

DFF

[spookshow]

Yay, "non-humid" season is just over the hill here in Minny. All things considered, I think I'd rather live next to an ocean 



Cheers,
-Mark

[tom mann]

I would not build an N scale layout in a garage, at least.    Maybe O at the smallest?

[GaryHinshaw]

I sympathize Russ, when I was a teenager in the Bay Area I had an N scale layout in an uninsulated garage and it was often miserable (but so were the locos!)

I heart my current garage.  I have not seriously cleaned my track in over a year and I've yet to have a loco stall due to dirty track.  (I consider myself lucky!)  But I now have plenty of insulation, a finished ceiling, well-sealed doors, no windows, and electric baseboard heat.  It helps that the climate is very stable here: temps between 40 and 70 F and dew points between 35 and 55 F 90% of the time.

-gfh

P.S. Great pic Spook.

[Bsklarski]

Even in the coldest time of winter, we get some days of high humidity here in Southern New England. The dehumidifier is always on, 365 days.

[PAL_Houston]

My sympathies, as well.  Mine were in the garage for about 5 years until space was "made available" and I could move them into the "train room". 

Patience!  Your time will come! (And probably all too soon!)

[nkalanaga]

After 35 years in eastern Kentucky, much of that time in a poorly insulated and well ventilated bedroom, I've never had a bolster pin fall out due to the climate.  I've had ice on the inside of the windows, heat that curdled paints (at least I assume that's what did it...), and humidity so high newspapers go limp, but the pins stayed in.

On the other hand, the track cleaning I can sympathize with.  Try combining cold, humidity, and a coal/wood burning stove with a leaky stovepipe.  The track didn't get dirty, it visibly corroded in the winter!

[SP-Wolf]

I'm down here in So. Cal. We pretty much have three seasons. Hot, cold and nice. So- maintaining a layout is really challenging. Mine is above my garage. I insulated the heck out of the room. But- since there is no attick, it gets pretty darn warm and then pretty darn cold. Humidity is not much of a factor.

Isn't model railroading fun-?

Have a good one,
Wolf

[Nato]

           "Bolster Pins, Bolster Pins, we don't gotta to show you no Bolster Pins", said an Athern rep at a recent  show. We use screws.                Nate Goodman  (Nato).               

[Cajonpassfan]

I'm down here in So. Cal. We pretty much have three seasons. Hot, cold and nice. So- maintaining a layout is really challenging. Mine is above my garage. I insulated the heck out of the room. But- since there is no attick, it gets pretty darn warm and then pretty darn cold. Humidity is not much of a factor.

Isn't model railroading fun-?

Have a good one,
Wolf

Wolf, you forgot the Santa Ana winds season...;(.
Spent the day cleaning up broken treetops and Eucalyptus lerps here in Cucamonga. Where are you?
Otto K.

[SP-Wolf]

Wolf, you forgot the Santa Ana winds season...;(.
Spent the day cleaning up broken treetops and Eucalyptus lerps here in Cucamonga. Where are you?
Otto K.

Hello Otto,

So darn true- the winds yesterday were crazy!! I hate the winds!!!  My yard is full of tree debri as well. I'm is Westminster. The temps usually aren't to bad, being so close to the beach.

Wolf

[tehachapifan]

....Let me know how that NO-OX-ID works.

DFF

The Bar Mills NO-OX-ID arrived yesterday and I put it on the rails last night per the instructions, which did not call for leaving it on the rails for any set amount of time and certainly not for 48 hours as someone posted somewhere. While I say this with some caution (as I recall using a [fluid] track cleaner years ago that worked well at first but became a gunky mess over time), I am EXTREMELY ENCOURAGED by the results so far! I ran the trains for several laps last night and, while there was a little more loco wheel slippage than normal on my grades-easily resolved by adding another loco-the trains ran great! This AM was the big test, for which I was rather apprehensive, especially because it was cool last night. I cannot believe that the trains still ran flawlessly with nary a headlight flicker as soon as I turned them on! I have to say, in all my years of garage-dwelling model railroading in both N and HO scale, I've never had that happen.....ever! Without getting too carried away, this stuff may actually change my life! And, no, I am not affiliated with the product in any way.