alluminum <> corrosion

Garden Railroading
1

with alluminum in this part of the country i know that it corrodes very fast
we have this spray on anti corrosion stuff that works good… has anyone ever tried this with alluminum rails or not

is this the only problem with alluminum rails or not?

thanks
Super Chicken

2

Doesn’t bother me.
All outdoor trackage on the 1400’ CCRy is aluminum.
The rougher the better the tracction.

3

Just that Aluminum is a softer metal and easier to damage.

4

Aluminum should only be used with a battery/RC railway. It’s no good for track power. Otherwise you shouldn’t have to worry about anything as the 6061-T6 aluminum alloy for the track is exactly the same as what Boing uses on their tail sections of the 737 and 757.

5

I used to think track power only, but I’ve run into a half-dozen or so folks who use aluminium for track power with zero problems.

Soft is actually good.
You can get aluminium to follow contours like 32 brass or stainlss never will.
Vertical cureves are a snap, not a kink at a joiner.
I’d never use anything else, nor would any of the locals.

Spent the afternoon running on an aluminium rairway…

6

True, I’m sure there are many who’ve used aluminum for track power with no problems, there are always exceptions. What about the expansion/contraction problems? The aluminum rail layouts I’ve seen all have problems which require frequent adjustments.

7

the climate where i live is about 60’s too 20’s F so how much contraction and expantion problems do you think i would relly have???

the reason im thinking alluminum is that its a heck of a lot cheaper than Brass.

Thanks
Super Chicken

8

I have…10 railclamps on the entire 1400 feet.
8 are for bridges (4 each) that come out when not running, two are a 332-250 adaptor out of the shed, everything else is slipjoiners, and no problems.

9

ok then i think im gonna stick too alluminum track??
I havent herd too much too end up worring too much about it??
and its a lot cheaper!!!

Super Chicken

10

Superchicken
Have a look at www.gscalechuffchuff.com for aluminium track. Its no problem at all provided its supported in place.

Tony

11

thats a neet site Gscalechuffchuff that has given me a lot of NEW ideias… i dont know if this is good or bad hahahah

thanks everyone for the help
Super Chicken