Once I clean my rails (steel and nickle on my HO layout, nickle on my N), I place a small drop of Wahl Hair Clipper oil on each rail about every 6 feet—a little goes a very long way, too much and you’ll create a dust attractor. My rails get cleaned once or twice a year.

I have never experienced this in rainy humid England but of course Florida is very hot and humid. May I suggest http://www.drierite.com

They sell a desiccant which dries the air of the room in which you have your railway. Nothing like tackling the ROOT cause of the problem. But you may find that this causes your eyes to smart and gives you a dry mouth, nose and throat. So keep a glass of water not too far away and keep drinking! On no account drink alcohol of any kind. Alcohol is itself a desiccant and will make you feel more dried up than ever!!!!

I have read that the normal oxidation that occurs on nickel silver track is actually a better electrical conductor than ‘clean’ track. You CAN overdo track cleaning since the track cleaning chemicals can build up on the wheels of your rolling stock and, being a kind of solvent, it just spreads the dissolved crud around.

I have heard that the best way to keep your track clean is to run your trains frequently. What could be better than that? ‘Idle’ track collects dust, cat hair and anything else that floats by so keep those wheels a turning.

Hope this helps,

Geof from the US