Good to see you using an old toothbrush - I do the same. But you really scrub them pretty hard, I'm too scared of damaging anything so I do it very gently. Very informative video, thanks Sam.
Yep! It works really well actually - I don't mind scrubbing these railroad coaches hard - I'd never do it with modern detailed coaches! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Again a great video Sam. I will give this a try and to be honest. That carriage looks almost new, so nice work. Personally I use a moist cloth and just wipe over the carriage or wagon. As for the cleaning of the other model trains with fragile parts. I would use a small paintbrush for the small areas and a large one to brush off any dust from the roof every six months. Another method is to use an air duster to blast away any dust from the grilles. I see that you use the IPA to clean the wheels like I do. I also use the Proses track cleaning felt dipped in some IPA to clean off the gunk from the track. Just be careful not to get that IPA on the model train's paint otherwise it could fetch it off! All the best Ash.
Thanks Ash - whichever works best for you is just fine - it's worth experimenting to find the best way! Your method sounds great as well! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Looks like an effective and efficient system. I have used washing up liquid to clean plastic models before painting. Then there are the models with dust on them. For these, I have had some success with a pastry brush that can be bought from many supermarkets. They are quite soft and seem suitable for some modern models with separately applied details.
Thanks mate - yeah washing up liquid will do the trick - though you'd want it quite dilute, or very dilute! Yeah - make up brushes are very good for this too! :D Cheers, Sam :)
Thank you for your useful videos like this one. Very handy indeed. I've not forgotten to book more locos in for a service. Funds have had a bashing recently.
I'm doing some Hornby and mainline coach restorations. This vid was so much help! Thanks for doing what you do, it super amazing and incredibly helpful.
Fab video again Sam, I’m moving my layout into my summer house. So my couches will be having that procedure, before they go back on. To think I haven’t cleaned the inside of some of my coaches in 30 years. Nice rainy day job. Lol
Just out of interest.....Do you have any recommendations for cleaning old Märklin train sets? As in locomotives, carriages etc. I've had my late dad's set passed down to me, it's got a lot of thick sticky very old dust/dirt in most nooks and hard to get places inside aswell as top and bottom of pieces.
Hi Sam nice servicing advice for rolling stock I might give it a try with any of my dirty rolling stock. what's the stuff you use to clean the wheels. is it better than using nail polish remover.
Thanks Joseph! Fantastic - good luck! Yes it's IPA - it's much cheaper and much safer than nail polish remover - take a look for it on Ebay! :D Cheers, Sam :)
Nice tutorial. I use a small piece of lightly damp dishcloth to gently wipe off my stock. For dust I use a soft powdering brush, works a treat around all the details.
Hi Sam. Another lovely informative video but it did bring back nightmares of the 40 coaches I decided weather and paint detail on the inside of!!! That's a week of my life I'll never get back! haha. Have you ever tried using T-Cut to remove any scratches and polish off the windows? Also... I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that Hornby Vs Bachmann A4 class review! Keep up the good work.
Sam'sTrains T-Cut has worked well for me in the past at removing light scratches and also fogged up windows from glue accidents. If you're going to have a go yourself I'd always recommend testing a part of the plastic hidden by the coach body work... but I think its worth giving it a go.
Rewatching this as looking to clean up all my rolling stock was wondering howndo you clean plastic wheels as guess they are matbe worse for dirt with them being black and unable to see it?
Question if you get a detail pack what shall I do because yesterday I been to the East Lancashire Railway to get a model train and I got a no 5960 “saint Edmund hall”, it has no instructions and that but it only came with the locomotive and a detail pack with brakes so I don’t know where to put them ?
Hi Connor - it depends - you don't necessarily have to fit them - I never do. Otherwise, take a look at the picture on the box (or failing that online) and see if you can spot where they go - there's normally holes so that they can be glued in easily! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I have quite a few "inox" coaches, cleaning those can be a real pain, and if the previous owner was a smoker... u can tell, and the various inox coaches in your train can shine a different shade. Those coaches (more their paint) are sensitive to any effect. Once i wanted to clean my TEE baggie coach that came with a set from ebay, but the moment i tried to take the wheels out the bogie snap in to 5 pieces (both)! I honestly wasn't expecting fatigue in the plastic in a model, but i heard the last of the production series was bad of the TEE coaches (but who knows what caused the fatigue) . Good thing all the inox collections i brought had a baggie coach, so i used the remains as parts (doors, buffers, interior light).
Yeah absolutely - stock belonging to smokers is very very much more difficult to clean! Really sorry to hear that anyway - that's a real disappointment :/ Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Hey Sam, do you have any recommendations on how to get old foam off of steam engines? I recently got two old brass engines and the foam around them disintegrated and stuck to the engines
Hi mate - is the brass unpainted? If so, you could use solvents to dissolve it? Otherwise, you could try something like I did in this video on just the bodywork?? Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Thanks mate! I have lots of videos about loco servicing! The bodywork can be done in this way, provided there's not too much fragile detailing on it! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
One thing I noticed. You may not want to touch those wheels after you've cleaned them. Your getting them nice and clean and then getting the oil and dirt from your hands on them. That being said I haven't tested the difference between touching and not. Though I can imagine they attract dirt a bit quicker when you touch them. My only recommendation is try and use gloves, or find a tool that can move the wheel that you can easily sterilize.
I am not sure what to call it but the splashes on the side of my railroad Flying Scotsman have come lose they were connected by glue but I am not sure which one to use any advice? I am doing it in a semi related RU-vid Video because Hornby America has not answered me yet after 4 days.
Hmm sorry to hear that Warren - I've never had anything like that happen before... do you reckon you could glue them back in place? Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Hi sam do you have any tips on keeping your coaches and wagons running freely. We all service our locomotives but what about coaches and wagons. The reason i ask i bought some second hand Pullman coaches and on a very small incline they dont run away like a new coach would. So if you or anyone knows any safe tips i would be grateful?
Sure Paul! Keeping the wheels good and clean, with a tiny spot of oil on the bearings/axles should keep them running new! If the wheels are old plastic ones, you can buy new metal ones, which should work even better! :D Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Thanks sam for your tip cleaned and oil all 32 pullmans and now my locos can pull a rake of ten pullmans without any slip thanks again .......will keep watching
interestingly I do exactly the opposite ! - my track runs in front of an old coal/wood range that produces a lot of ash some of which drops as a fine cloud overnight - some of my stock then looks just so realisticly weathered - AND the ash in the grate (coal and wood ash) is just the BEST for modelling between the tracks of the loco shed - so I dont think I will be making you an offer for that toothbrush ! (oh btw - I do keep my rails heads spotlessly clean )
I find it humorous they call Trucks Bogey's (Bogies?) which is the same word they use for Boogers, not that English here is any different but I still laugh when he says Bogey's. Great video and good tips.
Very nice insight into how you can clean rolling stock, nice video Sam very handy tips. Keep the faith - Callum P.S. I was also wondering if you had seen the email I sent a few weeks ago?Thanks.
Thanks Callum - much appreciated! Was that the email about the layout-to-layout? If so, I'm so sorry for not replying - I read it, and then it got lost under a sea of emails! Me and the other Callum have been talking about this, and we're going to get everyone involved who wants to be! :D Thanks for watching - Sam :)
@@SamsTrains arh ok thanks for your reply to me though. It's, just when I weathered my coaches some of the acrylic humbral sealer got onto the windows and can't it off. Any recommendations of stuff to remove it with?
Yeah, most of these bodies are clipped on - quite difficult to remove them without damaging the clips, but it can be done with care! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
trucks are easy just a light brush and then a que tip or ear buds in some water and that'll get the dirt out, as for ciggy or kitchen stickyness that is removing the whole truck from body and then the wheels metal weight and metal cuplings then wash in warm water and let dry, as for coaches? no idea other then the first part
Why would you need to totally disassemble the coach just to clean it you are just heightening the chances of breaking it over time use a toothbrush or a stiff paintbrush to clean the surface dust off and use cotton buds dipped in warm soapy water to clean any stubborn marks or fingerprints off the sides and roof and same for the windows just wet one end of cotton bud to clean and use other end to dry. Alternatively you could use baby wipes for roof and body.
It's important to disassemble... otherwise it's a devil to dry them properly, and you don't want moisture lingering inside rolling stock. Your method is fine for cleaner coaches... but some second hand stock can be utterly ditched, and disassembly is the best option! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I like doing renumber/repaints and it's a technique I use to prepare body-shells for painting. I also do a similar thing with T-Cut. It's abrasive nature provides a good key on the surface for the plastic primer. If used on a model with decals it's stunningly efficient at removing them, whether you want them off or not LOL
this method will ruin a lot of quality stock (hornby excluded since its toys). use a soft brush (like paint brush) and dust goes poof. smudge spots on the plastic wipe with 50-70% IPA and shop towels - whatever they are called in your countries (household paper towels scratch).
@@SamsTrains After one run there were just black spots on the track, like black black, you could not see the fine metal. But I have a different system (AC) and it does not affect it as the track itself is just a - and the third line is a + but still, I clean the wheels and the track and that's it.:))
Indeed! But the washing is the easy part... it's the dismantling that's tricky! Also, if washed in the wrong way, the finish can be ruined... it's really not that simple! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
