This is what works for us.

DO NOT USE BRITE BOYS. This only puts grooves in the rails and it will provide a place for dirt to hide.

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!

We use the Tony's Train Exchange CMS Clean Machine and Denatured alcohol. Run over every piece of rail three times. This gets up all the dirt.

http://tonysdcc.com/products/img/tte/cmx-293-600.jpg

The rails should now be clean.

Clean all your car wheels and locomotive wheels. You don't want to put the dirt from the wheels on your now clean rails.

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!

Do not wipe the rails without re-applying CRC 2-26. The CRC coating keeps air away from the metal rails and prevents oxidation. This is the same idea as using Wahl clipper oil, except the CRC does not get gooey like oil.

You may want to wipe the rails with a paper towel 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!

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!

• Be sure that BOTH trucks are allowed to rock side to side. 3/32 to 1/4" vertically from the sideframe. So called three point suspensions where just one truck rocks does not work.
• Only use metal wheels.
• The wheels should be freerolling in the truck sideframes.
• Be sure wheelsets are in gauge. Use the NMRA gauge to check your wheels.
• Check your track. Use the NMRA gauge to check for tight spots when cars derail in the same place on your RR.
• Switch points, whether home made or commercial, sometimes have blunt ends that snag wheel flanges. File these to sharpen the point so the flange has nothing to pick.