Model Railway Forum

Good evening all,
Not sure where to put this topic so please bear with me.
My son has just returned a box of elderly rolling stock and life being to short to spend the rest of it cleaning wheels etc. I was wondering if anyone has a tip to clean wheels other than replacing with new ones. Body work cleans up well with soap and water and an old tooth brush but that is all I have.

Regards

Alan the Lewisman

Can you be a bit more specific about the 'old and very old'?

Are they from the 1930's, 40's etc or a little more modern from the 70's and 80's or even newer from the 2000's?

And welcome!

Replacing wheels is not for the inexperienced, especially on steam locos. Can you be more specific about what was in the box?

And welcome again!

Old Triang plastic wheels tended to accumulate a layer of black 'gunge' round the treads, which goes hard. I find a small electrical screwdriver used as a scraper will remove this gunge if you press the blade flat against the tread and turn the wheel by the flange. Old Lima metal wheels also seem to collect dirt as well, and I use the same technique. The layer of gunge comes off like a skin.

To clean locomotive wheels I invested in a brass bristle wheel cleaning brush which connects to a controller and turns the wheels as they clean. My one sits on the track and I put the locomotive wheels on to the two brass bristle strips with power on and the wheels spin and the dirt gets brushed off. There are others which you hold and apply to the driving wheels while the loco sits upside down in a soft cradle. This method doesn't work with locomotives with traction tyres of course.

Some people also use a cotton bud soaked in Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to wipe the wheel surfaces clean.

There are no short cuts, and clean wheels are essential to reliable running.

I use the same methods as described by LC&DR.

One thing to check before you spend the time doing it is to check whether the wheels will run OK on your layout, particularly through your pointwork.
Older rolling stock (and locos) tend to have overscale flanges on the wheels, which may not be compatible with modern track. You should be OK if your are using code 100 track, but if you have the finer scale code 75 you may encounter some problems.

Good Afternoon all,
The Stock I queried is about the time Airfix and Mainline were launched. The bulk of what is in the box is freight stock and my current layout is using Peco code 100 track

Regards
Alan The Lewisman

Airfix and Mainline stock had reasonably acceptable wheels by modern standards, the ones to beware of are Tri-ang made before 1970, and 3 rail Trix Twin. Late 2 rail Trix isn't too bad. Hornby Dublo wagons are generally OK after they started using nylon wheels in their wagons, although obviously the metal wheel stock won't run on 2 rail layouts.