Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
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What is a track rubber?
A track rubber looks like a standard eraser that you would use to rub out unwanted pencil lines on a piece of paper. However, they are much harder to the touch than standard erasers and have a slightly abrasive quality.
The function of a track rubber is to clean unwanted dirt, grease and oil from the rails on a model railway. This is achieved by gently rubbing the rails with the track rubber.
It is important to clean rails regularly because model trains rely on good electrical contact between the model's wheels and the track to operate effectively. If too much dirt is allowed to build up on the rails it will insulate them and the trains will not run properly.
There are alternative ways to clean tracks. Some modellers use a simple piece of wood to rub along the rails, others use specially formulated track cleaning liquids. For the ultimate in track cleaning, you can get actual track cleaning rolling stock to operate around your layout and have the job done for you. There are two different types: one is a wagon with little track rubber shoes that drag along the rails at it goes and the other is a motorised vehicle that uses track cleaning liquid and even gives your tracks a little hoover as it goes.
The most popular method by far though is the trusty old track rubber!
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