Painting inside of rails?

[MrrKB.com]

Hi,

I think I did something really stupid. Yesterday, I started painting the
first 4 or 5 feets of tracks that are on my layout. I painted the ties AND
the rails (inside and outside) with oil-based paint (house paint, yeah). The
railtops were kept free from paint by wiping them frequently.

When I came back from work today, I found out that the results were really
good looking, exactly like I did on a small test area. The bad thing is that
trains run really BAD ... I can hear a clicking noise, like if the flange
were hitting every tie or something like that.

I'm in the process of removing that paint (scrapping it off with a pointy
tool) and it's gona talke long, but I tried the trains on a foot of cleaned
track and it still clicks ...

What I am about to do now (besides going crazy) is to use sandpaper to
remove the most paint from the rails and from thoses little plastic thignies
that hold the rails on the ties (do they have a name?).

I wanted to know what I did wrong, maybe that painting the inside of rails
is impossible, at least with oil paint (is it too thick ?). Anybody can help
me on that topic ?

Thanks

--
------------------
Alexandre Danault, WebMaster of MrrKB.com
WebMaster at MrrKb dot com
------------------

[Gavin Miller]

Alexandre,

I paint the inside of my rails (they would look terrible if only painted on
the outside).

I DO take a lot of care when ballasting and painting to ensure no stray
pieces of ballast end up stuck to the inside of the rail. They would
obviously conflict with the rolling stock flanges.

Sometimes when I've noticed a bit of "clicking" I've checked the track
thoroughly and discovered a piece of ballast stuck to the side of the rail.

Otherwise trains run perfectly!

Photos of my (N scale) track at MRPics:-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/131

or on my website at:-
http://users.bigpond.net.au/miller_site/Gavin_index.html

Gavin Miller
Perth, W. Australia

"MrrKB.com" <fake....@see.signature.com> wrote in message
news:N2m58.15045$Px5.9...@wagner.videotron.net...

[Bill]

I had no problem with my N scale railroad. You might want to look at my
tutorial showing how I painted my track and cleaned the rails. It's at:
http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-ballasting.html

Don't get discouraged! It's well worth the effort.

Bill
Bill's Railroad Empire
N Scale Model Railroad
http://www.billsrailroad.net

[Gavin Miller]

Alexandre,

I paint the inside of my rails (they would look terrible if only painted on
the outside).

I DO take a lot of care when ballasting and painting to ensure no stray
pieces of ballast end up stuck to the inside of the rail. They would
obviously conflict with the rolling stock flanges.

Sometimes when I've noticed a bit of "clicking" I've checked the track
thoroughly and discovered a piece of ballast stuck to the side of the rail.

Otherwise trains run perfectly!

Photos of my (N scale) track at MRPics:-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/131

or on my website at:-
http://users.bigpond.net.au/miller_site/Gavin_index.html

Gavin Miller
Perth, W. Australia

"MrrKB.com" <fake....@see.signature.com> wrote in message
news:N2m58.15045$Px5.9...@wagner.videotron.net...

[MrrKB.com]

Hi,

After a couple of tests I can say that the problem was that the pain I used
(oil based house paint) is too thick. It may sound exagerated but the
thickness of the paint was enough to make the rails out of gage, and the
spike heads (the fake plastic ones) too high.

I the hard way to learn is by our mistakes, here's what I learned:

- I'll never use house pain again on the layout, at least not on sensitive
parts like rails, cars, etc...
- I'll use spray paint on the rails
- It's one hell of a job to remove paint on the inside of rails. I have done
only the half of it, and I thenk about trowing it all away (4 lengths of
flex track). Scrapping, sanding, testing ...

--
------------------
Alexandre Danault, WebMaster of MrrKB.com
WebMaster at MrrKb dot com
------------------

"MrrKB.com" <fake....@see.signature.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
N2m58.15045$Px5.9...@wagner.videotron.net...

[Jeff Binkley]

Wouldn't it have been easier to replace the flex track ?

Jeff

M>Hi,

M>After a couple of tests I can say that the problem was that the pain I
M>used (oil based house paint) is too thick. It may sound exagerated but
M>the thickness of the paint was enough to make the rails out of gage,
M>and the spike heads (the fake plastic ones) too high.

M>I the hard way to learn is by our mistakes, here's what I learned:

M>- I'll never use house pain again on the layout, at least not on
M>sensitive parts like rails, cars, etc...
M>- I'll use spray paint on the rails
M>- It's one hell of a job to remove paint on the inside of rails. I
M>have done only the half of it, and I thenk about trowing it all away
M>(4 lengths of flex track). Scrapping, sanding, testing ...

M>------------------
M>Alexandre Danault, WebMaster of MrrKB.com
M>WebMaster at MrrKb dot com
M>------------------
M>"MrrKB.com" <fake....@see.signature.com> a écrit dans le message de
M>news: N2m58.15045$Px5.9...@wagner.videotron.net...
M>> Hi,
M>>
M>> I think I did something really stupid. Yesterday, I started painting
M>> the first 4 or 5 feets of tracks that are on my layout. I painted
M>> the ties AND the rails (inside and outside) with oil-based paint
M>(house paint, yeah). The
M>> railtops were kept free from paint by wiping them frequently.
M>>
M>> When I came back from work today, I found out that the results were
M>> really good looking, exactly like I did on a small test area. The
M>bad thing is that
M>> trains run really BAD ... I can hear a clicking noise, like if the
M>> flange were hitting every tie or something like that.
M>>
M>> I'm in the process of removing that paint (scrapping it off with a
M>> pointy tool) and it's gona talke long, but I tried the trains on a
M>foot of cleaned
M>> track and it still clicks ...
M>>
M>> What I am about to do now (besides going crazy) is to use sandpaper
M>> to remove the most paint from the rails and from thoses little
M>plastic thignies
M>> that hold the rails on the ties (do they have a name?).
M>>
M>> I wanted to know what I did wrong, maybe that painting the inside of
M>> rails is impossible, at least with oil paint (is it too thick ?).
M>Anybody can help
M>> me on that topic ?
M>>
M>> Thanks
M>>
M>> --
M>> ------------------
M>> Alexandre Danault, WebMaster of MrrKB.com
M>> WebMaster at MrrKb dot com
M>> ------------------
M>>
M>>

M>

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999

[Rhoobarb]

I did all of mine (Code 83 flex) using the Krylon spray paint method
described in "Trackwork and Lineside Detail for Your Model Railroad",
which you can probably find at any hobby shop or buy direct from
Kalmbach. It worked great.

In a nutshell, you coat the tops of the rails and all switch points
with oil (I used 3-in-1), then spray successive coats of Krylon
primers in red, grey and black until you get your desired effect.
After the paint dries, wipe a cloth dipped in a little mineral spirits
and wipe off the tops of the rails. I'd never do it any other way;
this was too easy and gave a nice result.

You'll probably have to do a little touch up with a small brush and
some Floquil colors around sharper curves, depending upon what kind of
flex track you are using, as some of the paint may get scraped off by
the movement through the ties.

[MrrKB.com]

Finally, I had to remove all the rail I painted that way. Sanding and
scraping never restore the track to it's "soundless" state.

I must say it way one hell of a job, the paint acted as glue and when I
removed the tracks some parts of the foamcore roadbed came with it.

Even worse, I destroyed a turnout when pulling *a bit too hard* on a
reticent piece od track.

The final result is satisfying tough, a couple of hours later new tracks are
back in place and the trains room smooth again.

Next time I'm gonna use spray paint, I promise !

Funny story: While soldering the new tracks, I decided to change my iron's
pointy tip with a flat tip. Doing it while the iron is *HOT* didn't seem to
be dangerous, *UNTIL* the hot tip slips from the pliers, the drops on the
fresly laid tracks (starting to melt a dozen ties). I then quickly picked it
up with the pliers, and *DAMN* it slips again, this time dropping it on the
blue foam ! It instantly melted it way down to the plywood, where it started
to melt a big (larger) hole. I had to stick the pliers down the small hole
to try to grab the /$%!"/$ tip.

How does the story ends ? The blue foam has a nice hole in it, I had to
replace the melted ties, and the "bad" tip when straight to the toilet (to
only cold water I found at that moment).

I feared that the whole layout could catch on fire ...

--
------------------

Alexandre Danault, WebMaster of MrrKB.com

WebMaster at MrrKb dot com

------------------
"Jeff Binkley" <je...@thebinks.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
35.2530...@thebinks.com...

[MrrKB.com]

> I did all of mine (Code 83 flex) using the Krylon spray paint method

What out ! This stuff eats foam !