Wheel Cleaner Recommendation

[DerekC]

I have a collection of old OO-gauge steam outline locomotives (mostly rescued from the scrap road and rebuilt) which I get out and run occasionally. I have been going to build a layout one day since about 1998! I get fed up with cleaning the wheels, particularly the old Triang ones made of some strange zinc-based alloy which seems to get a film of some kind even in the storage box! Does anyone have a recommendation for a wheel cleaner? I recall seeing one once which you could connect to a power supply and run the loco on, with the wheels rotating against brass wire brushes. Are they any good?

 

[fourtytwo]

Peco used to make a powered brass brush but I didn't find it particularly good. These days I use a cradle to hold the loco upside down then use IPA on a cotton bud, touching the wheels with power to rotate and do the other half.

The gunk on loco wheels comes from the track so the best way to avoid cleaning them is to keep the track clean with something that doesnt deposit more gunk (like track rubbers), stock wheels (particularly plastic) are another source of gunk and need to be cleaned too. Having recently bought a few s/h wagons I have been astonished at the amount of gunk on there wheels!

 

[SCH117X]

Traction tyres are responsible for lot of muck on the track. Clean all wheels, replace all plastic wheels with metal ones , clean all track, and do not use traction tyre fitted locos.

 

[fourtytwo]

do not use traction tyre fitted locos.

I can give you another reason, there is no electrical pickup from them. I made the mistake of buying a Hornby steam loco (2-6-2) and discovered it only picked up on one axle never again!