I have acumilated several loco’s ! and quite a bit of track ! both in brass and silver ! being i am new to trains i am not sure what the diffrence is , does my engines have to have certian features to run on either ? my older engines have brass trucks so does that mean they can only run on brass tracks?
Not silver, but nickle-silver track.
Nickle-silver oxidizes to a surface that remains conductive. Brass track oxidizes to a non-conductive “film.” I won’t bother with the technical side, but nickle-silver provides better more consistent contact with far less maintenance. Some claim brass is just fine for them, but nickle-silver is today’s standard.
Your locos don’t care which they operate on – when the track is clean. Give it time and they will operate fine on even visibly grungy nickle-silver, while finding it hard to get beyond a dead stop on brass.
Unless you want to be cleaning the brass track all the time, I would not use it.
Sorry to say, imo it is best to throw away the brass, unless you are going to run trains on it 8 hours or more per day to keep the rails from oxidizing.
John
LION uses Brass Track for static displays only.
ROAR
If you want to use brass track for some reason then:
Use it only where it is easy to clean.
Buy or make a track cleaning car.
Clean the ends along the sides at the end where the rail joiners go.
Use fresh rail joiners.
Replace it when convenient.
Good luck
Paul
Learn how to “gleem” your track and problems will be minimal even with brass. I use brass with DC operation only. I have heard that DCC is more sensitive and would probably work better with nickle silver. I have offered to pay shipping for anyone who will send me their unwanted brass track and have never had a taker. Also, if you look at Ebay you will see that brass track still brings a return from those who are not afraid to use it.
Like Lion, all my brass that is still used is used on static, unpowered display only.
A friend of mine locally, not on these forums, does still have a yard laid with brass track, he keeps loco’s on ladder only, and has cars only past the lead onto the brass. Something like this would work fine, but make sure you know where the brass stops/starts somehow, otherwise you need to be able to clean it before and after operation.
Me, all powered track is nickel silver.
One thing you can do with brass track, is mount it on the underside of your layout and use it as a bus to power your NS track. Just be sure to clean and solder the joints together and also clean the area that you solder the feeder wires to.
I thought I was thrifty.
Wow that’s a lot of work.
Think I’ll stick with my wire bus.
Paul
Even if brass rail did not have the issues with contact, nickle silver rail LOOKS more like the top surface of steel rail than does brass. Having said that, I note that the rail leading to scrap dealers tends to take on a darker hue eevn when “shiney” and brass rail can be useful for simulating that, assuming in all cases that the sides of the rail are weathered whether the rail is brass or NS.
Dave Nelson
As has been said, nickel silver rail looks more like steel. Clean brass looks like steel that has been exposed to morning dew a few times since the last train moved over it - new rust.
I have laid brass rail in a number of places where it will never feel the weight of a locomotive (the last nine inches of a spur ending at a bumper, the stub ends of sidings in back-in staging…) where its conductivity is non-critical. All of my working rail is nickle silver.
Then there is brass rail as scenery. You can use straight 39 scale foot lengths of flex as panel track, either neatly stacked in your MOW yard or as a flatcar load or three. Rail without ties can also be ‘stored serviceable’ where it might be needed, or used as fence posts, or wheel stops in the station parking lot.
I have some truly ancient brass rail, stripped off the fiber ties of ‘first edition’ Atlas flex track. Right now it’s stretched along the right of way, continuous welded rail scheduled to replace the jointed rail on the newly-installed concrete ties. The ties were placed during August, 1964, and the rail was unloaded on the 29th of August. It’s scheduled to be installed over the first weekend in October. For the reason why it will still be there when my layout meets the demolition crew, check my signature.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - timetable ops, 24/30)
Brass track has gotten a undeserved bad rap over the years by misinformation. Brass track will work as good as nickle-silver-both will need periodic cleaning but,not to the extreme like most modelers believe.I clean my track as needed with 91% alcohol on a shotgun cleaning patch and a bright boy as needed maybe once or twice every three months.
Hi
What little brass track I have is waiting to be soldered up into rail racks
then blackend.
The steel track I had is long gone to the green file.
regards John
John,That steel track was hideous. Whew! I looked at it at a hobby shop and replaced it on its hook. Kyle(the owner) told me he couldn’t give that track away. IIRC Kyle findly tossed it to make room for Peco switches.