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So, I've recently "unburied" my Artin race track after about a 7 year hiatus, and I'm seeking advice on cleaning the steel rails. Contact is fair to poor in different areas of the track. What do you guys use, to get the tarnish/grime off your rails, for achieving good conductivity?

Model railroad folks use something called RailZip. Put it on the braid and run the car around several laps each lane.

If you can reach the rails, a Dremel with the steel brush does a nice job cleaning off rust.

Get an old wash cloth/shop rag. Use some Ronsonol lighter fluid, dip the end of the cloth in it and rub the rails clean. Repeat. You do not want to use anything abrasive.

What you might use depends on what is actually on the rails. If that is just dirt lighter fluid will remove that. I don't know if Artin track has nickel plated rails, if it does you should avoid using anything abrasive for sure. Nickel does not rust, so if you see any rust on the rails either they were not plated or the plating has worn through. CNC contact cleaner often works well as does Inox and Rail Zip. If there is actual rust you will have to sand or wire brush it off. Once steel has rusted it will be more prone to rust in the future. If there is much rust on a section you should probably toss it. I would avoid using any sort of water based cleaner.

I have Been Recently buying Monogram Track being that it's older and probably sitting in someones attic or basement for the last 50 yrs a lot of them have minor rust and mostly tarnished I have been using fine Scotch Brite Pads that we use in the Paint Shop for scuffing panels for color blending there fine really only cleans the surface doesn't actually remove any metal from the rail I have 4 lanes and about a 100 running feet of this monogram track once I have it all assembled i plan on applying Inox to the braids of a car and run it it each lane to condition and lubricate the rails hope it last like that because it was a lot of work!! I'll post pictures of the assembly when i start probably next month.

Thank you for all the advices, guys! Since I already have some, I'm going to try lighter fluid first. There's quite a bit of track, so I'll have to apply some major elbow grease for this arduous task.