This is what works for us.

First, clean every piece of rail with your favorite track cleaner. Something like Acetone (flammable. CAUTION), Denatured Alcohol, etc. I really don't recommend Goo Gone since the dirt may be gone but the Goo Gone isn't gone. Denatured Alcohol will remove it. Whatever you do, do not use paint remover or thinner. It will take the paint off of wheels like Kadee and others that are blackened metal wheels and put the paint, you guessed it, right on the rails!

Don't forget to clean the top inside edges of the rails. this is where the wheels make contact with the rails.

The rails should now be clean.

Now, here is the tricky part. Go to Home Depot or Lowe's Home centers electrical department and ask for CRC 2-26. It comes in a 11oz. spray can and costs less than $4. .

Spray a SMALL amount (about a half second spray) at a place on your RR where all the trains go past. Run trains to every part of your RR and the chemical will be spread by the wheels. Don't worry, it doesn't leave a stain on your scenery. If you use too much, it acts like wheel cleaner and makes a royal mess of the tracks. So don't over do it!

You may want to wipe the rails of excess dirt and spray again every six months. That's it!!

Apply a little CRC 2-26 to the axles and axle wipers on all your cars using track power for lighting or detection. This will cut down on rolling resistance and provide better electrical contact.

In January 2002, we sprayed some on a noisey door hinge where oil did not work and it hasn't made a noise since!

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Whenever we encounter reverse loop situations, we build the reversing into the layout. Since we must retain compatibility with DC, we have to do it this way. It is also cheaper in the long run than buying one of those fancy autoreversers that don't work on DC anyway!