Ok I’m new to these forums but have been reading to build my first layout with my son. It seems like everyone on here is against brass track but I have some I got cheap and I see it all over E-Bay and people are bidding on it so I am torn between using what I have and trashing it for newer track. I want a good layout we can enjoy without much trouble.
I have been in the hobby since late 1950’s, and when I first switched to HO brass was the only game. Then came an attempt to replace it with steel rail which was a failure in my opinion from the get go.
Then nickle silver track became available and also became the standard. Several different companies produce nickle silver.
Brass tarnished, whatever and became quickly non conductive making an operating model railroad more of a dream for many who didn’t want to have to continually maintain it. Nickle silver pretty much replaced brass because of issues like corrosion, poor conductivity on the part of brass and other issues. Today I never visit a layout that has brass because about every modeler has gone to nickle silver. It isn’t perfect, but does maintain conductivity for good operation, and that is a major plus.
Also nickle silver is easier to weather.
Others may chime in, but this is my take on the subject, and why I would never go back to brass track.
Bob
If you insist on using brass track, invest in a couple cans of contact cleaner from Radio Shack or an electronics supply store. The contact cleaner reacts with the non-conductive oxide that forms on brass track, and restores conductivity.
There’s no reason that you can’t use nickle silver track with the brass you already have.
I had the same questions when I got back into model railroading six months ago. I read everything I could find on the internet concerning brass vs. nickel silver track. My conclusions: If you are building your layout in a climate controlled area, run metal wheels on all your stock, and run your trains on a regular basis, brass is fine. Also, look at the recent thread on “gleaming” your track. I tried it on a piece of my brass track and it shined like the sun. Use the money you save on track to buy better locomotives and rolling stock. I actually read that brass is a better conductor of electricity which is one reason it was used almost exclusively years ago. If money is not a big issue with you, your layout is in an area not always heated or A/C and you want the newer low profile 83 track go with the nickle silver.
Welcome to the forums.
Yes, there are a lot of folks that slam brass track. I have also seen a post or two by folks that have layouts of brass track and don’t seem to have much trouble with them. I think amount of use and care of the track over time make a difference. I don’t think I would start a layout with it, but if you have some it is not totally useless. There is some flex track (not sure about sectional) that has fiber rather than plastic ties. I gather that is more of a problem as the fiber ties can absorb moisture from ballasting, etc and not retain its guage.
If you have a fiddle yard, where locos (0-5-0’s) don’t need power. Staging yards where you uncouple on NS track and use the brass for the track beyond. If you are modeling abandoned track. Bridge gurad rails. Rails piles in a maintenance yard or car loads. Also, scrap loads and replaced rail laying in the bushes. I have used it for my roll test track and attached my coupler height guage to it.
Bcause the condition and previous maintainece of track is an unknown, I wouldn’t pay much for any of it. If it comes in a package deal, make your offer on the other items and see what you can do with what you get.
Good luck,
Richard
Last year, while cleaning out the garage rafters, I discovered a box of brass track that hasn’t been used probably since around 1975. Some of the 3’ sections actually still had the old fibre tie strips. There was an assortment of Atlas, Shinohara, AHM, and who knows what else. It amazed me that some sections were almost totally corroded away, and others showed almost no corrosion at all. Apparently there were significant batch varuiatioins in the alloy formulations. The really bad stuf went to the landfill. I still salvaged at least 60% of the track. All the best stuff cleamned up quite well with a pink ink eraser. I’m retired on a fixed income, so I can’t afford to replace too much of what I already have.
I built my first HO layout in 1965(I was 16), Atlas brass fiber tie flex track and AHC $1.95 brass turnouts(mail order). That layout on ‘ping pong’ table lasted about a year. I had to clean the track constantly. The early AHM BL2 and FM C-Liners has poor electrical pick-up and made the operation bad as well.
A year later, I tore down the entire layout and built an expanded version of the MT/MR project layout from 1963(PH&C). This time I used Atlas NS Customline turnouts and 2’ flex(plastic ties and it was hard to flex!). It took about 9 months to purchase those 25 turnouts and flex - but everything ran better(even the AHM stuff). NS flex track on plastic ties was so much better. No ‘curled’ fiber ties from ballasting. My current layout was started in 1987, and was built using that same Atlas NS trackage(a little more expensive by then). I am currently buying Atlas code 83 trackage - I will retire next year and I am treating myself to a ‘new’ layout/retirement project.
The bottom line from my post is that solid bench work/good track is the foundation for a layout - do not waste your time/money on component’s that will be replaced in the future. I am buying up material now before the reality of a ‘fixed income’ retirement budget hits me! As you said; ‘I want a good layout we can enjoy without much trouble’.
Jim Bernier
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Thanks for the welcome and the responses. I think I will cut my losses and go with nickel silver so I can spend more time running trains and less time explaining to a disappointed son why the trains won"t run right.
One other advantage of NS track is that it looks more like the prototype when weathered and the shiny silver rail tops glisten from the headlights. Brass never was a realistic looking rail and I started back in the late 1950’s with the fiber ties.
- Bob
My first 2 layouts used brass track with fiber ties (I even handlaid some brass rail on the second one). There was a big price difference, but the third layout and all the others since used nickel silver. I think it looks better and requires less cleaning.
Enjoy
Paul
Interestingly, a couple years ago, my layout was an oval and passing siding of Bachman E-Z track, a combination of the steel and NS rail, on the basement floor. The floor drain got plugged during a heavy rain storm, flooding the bsement to about 8" and submerging the oval. There was significant contamination of both types of rail. The NS cleaned up quickly with a Bright Boy and some Rail Zap. It looks like some of the product with steel rail either needs a good throwing away or I’m going to have to get a couple lengths of code 100 rail and replace that on the plastic roadbed. When I build my next layout, I will still be using some of my older brass rail for budgetary considerations. Give my Bachman Plasser rail cleaner and my old Ulrich track cleaner some continuing excersize.
Brass rail can be used! Don’t simply throw it away.
- The last few feet of stub sidings, where no locomotive will ever tread.
- Dummy track - “The other railroad” that crosses yours (with which you swap cars on an interchange track)
- Brass flex can be cut into 39 scale foot lengths and used to simulate panel track - flat car loads or stacked at a MoW storage area. (The full-scale guys use it for quick and dirty track repairs.)
- Brass rail removed from damaged track can be used anywhere that the prototype uses old rail - from vertical vehicle blocks to wheel stops in the station parking lot.
- I have used brass for guard rails on otherwise all nickle silver hand laid turnouts.
- I have longer lengths of brass rail stretched along part of my right-of-way - welded rail that’s scheduled to replace the present, lighter weight jointed rail on the first weekend in October. (See my signature for explanation.)
And, if your layout space is climate controlled, you can use it on tracks that see a lot of regular use. Rolling wheels help to keep it clean.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
[:)]
I agree with most of the comments on brass track, both positive and negative. My 1950s HO layout was all brass flex track with fiber ties. I still like the look of it for nostalgic reasons.
Because of that and because I am an old guy I am using it in several places on my layout where I can reach it easily for cleaning and other maintenance.
[:)] [:)]
I’ve had brass track in older layouts in the 1960s (in Northern Virginia, some with air conditioning, some not). Brass track (plastic tie) works fine mechanically - just as good as nickel silver. My two objections to brass track are:
- unrealistic color in the conductive areas that can’t be painted
- oxidizes more easily, making smooth running trains at low speeds more difficult
The color issue can be minimized. Almost all our model wheels are tapered so contact actually occurs only at the inside corner of the rail head. Most of the top of the rail head can be painted a rust color without affecting anything.
Running trains with NMRA weighted cars and metal wheels twice a week kept the oxidation at bay in the Northern Virginia humidity. Failure to run trains that often meant I had to clean the track to get conductivity restored. Burnishing the rail and treatment with No-Ox or CRC 2-26 would probably significantly slow brass oxidation.
Since frequent running of trains is a very effective means of breaking down any forming oxidation, I recommend not putting brass on the little-used track like spurs and sidings. Use the brass track where it will get heavy and frequent use, and it will require a lot less cleaning.
If you are going to use fiber tie track - I recommend not using it no matter how cheap - typical water-based scenic and ballast methods (diluted white glue, matte medium) are out.
Since code 83 and smaller rail was never made in brass, brass rail is no longer a concern. I deliberately built with code 70 rail in the 1970s to prevent myself from using gross flanges on my equipment.
just my thoughts and experiences
Fred W
I have some brass rails on my layout, but like most have said I use it for backwater applications and I have used it for scenery such as pieces of track laying next to the mainline along with rail ties. I have a large machine shop/rebuild yard on my layout that is mostly static displays of engines and rolling stock that I didn’t send to the “scrap yard” so along with the equipment I used brass track there and heavily weathered the trackage and it works fine for what I need. Granted once in awhile I get a wild hair and decide to send my switchers up there to move stuff and that usually means about 2 hours of track cleaning to get things to work right. Best bet is NS and weather it to your tastes.
Good choice.
Yup, good choice. Just be sure not to make the mistake of having a single spot where the wire feeds the track. Solder a feeder wire at least every 6 feet. Doing so will keep the layout running smoothly for years. With a single feeder the joiners will begin to break down over a couple of months and give you headaches.
Good ideas! I have a box of 9" brass track that I had not planned on using on my new layout, but as panel track on MOW flat cars, a few pieces would work nicely after proper weathering.
This is a very true statement, I found out the hard way on my previous layout. Lots of headaches and stopages from worn and loose connections. I run a feeder every 15 feet on my layout on both mains and the begining of each spurline or begining of the yard. Lots of soldering but in the end it makes life alot easier. also solder the feeders on the bottom of the track so that it doesn’t detract from the look.
Thank god for the internet. I can’t imagine trying to do this without all the resources currently available. I remember being in school at the library reading Model Railroader and dreaming of a layout. Now here I am 42 years old and finally getting started with my own son. I think I am more excited than him right now because I waited so long.