I’m relaying/expanding 40 years worth of track(all brass).My LHS has some brass,i heard of a possible changeover to nickel.Should I stock up?
Actually the changeover has already occurred. Brass track is becoming much more hard to find as nickel-silver has become the normal material for track.
Ricky
Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you pulling our legs, Rip?
Okay, yes, Atlas has marketed nickel-silver rails for many years now. It used to be that Code 100 rail was very popular, but the hobby seems to have a sort-of-consensus that Code 83 rails are more in scale for high-rail these days. In case this is Greek to you, the code is merely the height of the actual rails in thousandths of an inch. Code 100 scale out to something like 165 pound rail which no one used.
Code 100 is still very popular and widely available. Frankly, what made me question you initially is that any LHS with a breathing human behind the counter should have a good supply of Atlas or some other nickel-silver track.
selector,reread thread.I have brass track and want to add to my layout,with brass!!LHS as stated has BRASS in stock.
This must be an early April Fools joke [(-D]
Okay, I see what you mean. Your statement about hearing of a “possible changeover” made me wonder since that event happened when Nixon was still alive. And, as it was your first post, and so few members admit to using brass rails, I was wondering if you were poking fun. Sorry.
It wouldn’t hurt to stock up if you want to be sure of a supply. He may even be selling cheaper than online auction sites. Good luck with your expansion.
-Crandell
[:-^]
Maybe you misspelled your name.
Is it more likely to be BRASSMAN rather than Glassman …
Please forgive me, but, MOST everyone who has a serious interest in model railroading today has swung over to, or is in the process of
switching to nickel/silver track. You are indeed a rarity Sir.
The odd modeller has possibly left some brass on seldom used sidings where they would resemble track that sees little maintenance
in the real world…[X-)]
Johnboy out …for now.
Glassman, if you really like and want to run brass track, then stock up! If you really want it cheap, go on E-Bay.Stuff does not sell most of the time for over $5.00 for a big box plus shipping if it sells at all.
Heck, I have some code 83 brass track you can have!
Why do you not want to run nickel anyway?
Cuda Ken
Or, he has one of those magical places that only exist in myth: The LHS that doesn’t change stock, and is therefor chock full of old goodies otherwise lost to the ages.
Anyway, Selector and the others are right, Atlas changed to Nickel a LONG while back, beofre I got started, but then I’m between voting age and drinking age, so it may not be that long ago.
For you, I don’t know how well mixing metals would work. If I were you, I’d keep the brass, and buy as much as you can, as it may go away after you get what you need…for now. Obviously though, the Brass has been working for ya. so get more, and kee it working.
Or, maybe I too am just missing the porpoise of this thread.
If your dead set on sticking with brass track, then yes, you better stock up. As far as I know nobody makes it anymore.
Morgan wrote:Or, he has one of those magical places that only exist in myth: The LHS that doesn’t change stock, and is therefor chock full of old goodies otherwise lost to the ages.
I see you never visited a small hole in the wall hobby shop located way out in the boonies.Such shops is only a myth to those that never visited such shops.
I know of 2 hobby shops that has the same car kits they did 10 years ago(if not longer) including 2 BB 50’ Railbox boxcars I was going about 8 years ago.
In fact I recently bought 2 MT boxcars that was in the '03 and 05 releases…[:O]
I would stock up on brass track.
I didn’t sea that one coming [:D] [:D]
–Randy
Thank you for the replies.I was thinking aesthetics when I was looking for more brass flex.What is the advantage to the nickel track,I know the brass tarnishes.Can we get a good solder joint with the nickel?
Yes, you can get a good joint, solder that is! And it will stay cleaner longer than brass.
Sorry some of the people thought it to be a joke. Butt, brass is the past, some like a 396 bow tie motor.
Cuda Ken
I think this was a little underwater-----[:-,][(-D]
It all makes sense now. [:)] Aesthetics is very important.
The NS track is a decent enough conductor down its length, not as good as brass. However, unlike with brass, the oxide that builds up over time is much more conductive, so you can run your rails as long as nothing else builds up, such as the black guck that ends up on the wheels too.
As Ken has said, soldering is just fine, but like with anything else, the materials should be clean, hot tip, resin core solder, etc. Try to be quick so that you don’t melt the plastic ties nearby.
Painted up to appear weathered, I don’t know that they would look much different if the tooling is much the same.
-Crandell
NS solders just fine and it’s oxide is conductive. It also tarnishes more slowly in many climates.
One down side (and it’s minor) is a slightly lower conductivity. That one won’t matter since you should be using a lot of feeders with either type of track.
Ken
LOL,easy on the bowtie,that 396 sits in my 69 Chevelle S/S.It twists a 700R4 tranny(overdrive baby).Heres the deal guys,first train set 1964,small setups always on flat ply.Marriage,kids,etc.put them on the back burner.I’ve been hardcore into R/C for 30 years,1/4 scale boats,gas cars and now back into flying.My son has taken over my business,playtime for ,me again.These Cape Cod winters aren’t conducive to outdoor play hence the return to trains.4x8 is gone and now a 50+ foot double main line sets on girder/joist construction.I’ve got so much brass that i’d like to stay with it and add to it without the change in appearance.Nice car in that garage.
About the time you got that first train set, Shinohara was manufacturing nickel silver flex track. (The rail was drawn by Cactus Brass, in Tokyo.) I believe that Atlas started about the same time, or even earlier.
The most recently-manufactured brass flex I’ve encountered was made in Italy. Since my sister (the yard sale fanatic) got it at a yard sale, no telling when or where it was originally purchased.
If you are going to have hidden staging, or even long tunnels, you might consider using nickel silver rail where the sun don’t shine.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
“396 bow tie motor” in this case its more like a flathead Ford V8