A note about NO-OX

A number of people have reported good success using NO-OX to treat track.  If you search for NO-OX track you'll find a number of references.  Sanchem is the supplier, and they even have some instructions on their web site: http://www.sanchem.com/aSpecialE.html.  Since I have had occasional dirty track troubles I decided to give it a try on my O scale layout.

Worst mistake ever.

I will freely admit that I succumbed to my ever present tendency to over do things, and used more than I should have.  But I still didn't use very much.  The problem is loss of traction.  My MP-15, which should be able to move at least 12 of the Atlas 60' Berwick hi-cubes easily now struggles to move 4, and 8 is out of the question.  I've cleaned the track dozens of times since the NO-OX application, with alcohol, goo-gone, and several other things.  I've scrubbed the top and both sides of all rails with a toothbrush and alcohol, cleaned out the flangeways with Q tips and wipes, cleaned every single wheel on the layout one at a time with a goo gone soaked Q tip, and repeated the process.  So far I haven't materially improved the situation.  Nothing feels greasy, but it evidently is just a bit slippery.  I do have hope that with more cleaning and more time I will eventually get rid of the residual greasy NO-OX carrier.  But by then I will have done more track cleaning than I otherwise would have for the entire life of the layout, so it hardly seems worthwhile.

In the meantime I can't operate the layout as designed, since my loco is unable to move the requisite cars.  Fortunately the layout has a reasonable amount of operating interest even without the Tighe warehouse where the 60' hi-cubes go.  And the rest of the industries take cars that are lighter and/or roll better, so I think I'll be able to claim the warehouse has closed and operate the rest pretty much as planned.

I won't go so far as to say you shouldn't use NO-OX, since some people seem to be very happy with it.  I will say that you should be EXTREMELY careful about using too much.  And you might want to consider alternatives.