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Easy way to remove paint from rail head WITHOUT touching the guardrail

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    Easy way to remove paint from rail head WITHOUT touching the guardrail



    Don’t know about you guys, but I’ve always hated removing the paint off the rails of a bridge or trestle WITHOUT touching the inner guard rails.


    I just discovered using a small basswood stick works great. It’s soft enough to deform slightly and not slip off the rail head and hard enough to remove the paint.IMG_1547.jpeg​Here’s a short video of the process.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/cjNyW0rf8n0?feature=shared

    Peter

    #2
    Great idea Peter.
    The Little Rock Line Blog

    Rule #1 of model railroading.
    It's probably responsible for the greatest number of shoddy layouts because no one feels compelled to improve themselves. Meh, good enough...

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      #3
      Yes, good idea, and the end can be cut off when there's a lot of paint buildup.
      I imagine dipping the end in a rail cleaning solution will make it easier to apply in difficult places too.

      Comment


        #4
        It’s funny that dipping the wood in acetone really made little if any difference in removal of the paint. Changing ends helps, 4 per stick (actually On30 ties). Didn’t think ti nip the end off, just grabbed a new tie. It took two ties to do the whole thing which is over 3 feet long.

        Peter

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          #5
          My solution for bridge guardrails was to use code 40 for guardrails and 55 for the stock rails. I did not do this for turnouts but could be done.
          Southern Pacific in the Inland Empire

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          • Karl
            Karl commented
            Editing a comment
            This was my solution too, then you can clean the track like normal.

          #6
          Actually I’ve found that’s not the case all the time. This On30 bridge/trestle is Code 70 and 55 same difference in height .15". No matter how hard I tried I always seemed to hit the tops in places. As it’s all hand laid I’m pretty sure there are areas that that the Code 55 is not super tight to the ties. .15” is a very small difference in height.

          It works for me and solved an an annoying problem I had. Your mileage may vary! LOL

          Peter

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