Model Train Maintenance

Cleaning is an important part of the hobby. Fortunately, the more you use your layout, the easier it is to keep clean. The most important cleaning job is cleaning the track and wheels. This should be done very regularly. If you haven't run your trains in more than a month, a quick cleaning prior to running will make a big differnce.

There are many special products available for cleaning, but you can also have excellent results with some household products. Rubbing alcohol, transmission fluid and cleaning products like Goo Gone can all be used to clean rail and wheels.

Dusting the rest of the models is another job that needs to be done periodically. Conditions vary, but an annual cleaning is a good idea.

Wouldn't it be great if there was an easy and cheap way to clean your trains' wheels while you run them? Guess what? There is! Take a look at this easy cleaner and you'll be cleaning wheels in no time.

The gauge, or distance between the wheels is critical to keeping cars on track. It is not uncommon to find a wheel slightly out of gauge as delivered from the factory. Fortunately it is also easy to correct.

Recheck wheel gauge every time you service the car - a good annual practice. If your cars have plastic wheels, you may want to consider replacement metal wheelsets for better performance and less cleaning.

A coupler that is out of gauge or a low-hanging pin can cause cars to uncouple, or catch on swithches and crosssings and cause a derailment. Learn how to gauge your couplers' height and correct a low hanging coupler or trip pin.

Good track and wheels are the real keys to keeping your trains on the track. Proper and consistant weighting in each of the cars is also important, especially when running longer trains. In most cases, adding weight to trains is an easy operation.

Do you have a car that wobbles from side to side as it rolls along the track? Here's the simple secret to setting it straight.