I just bought a bunch of older HO track (can’t find mine any more) and I’m wondering what is the best way to clean this stuff. Any good household stuff out there? What’s the best track for over all performance and reliability? Brass? Steel? Nickel? It looks like what I have is nickel or steel.
I’m formally a train simmer and I have a ton of routes but I want to get back in the HO stuff. I have lots of HO stuff that I had since I was a kid (now 55) and want to start running it again. Right now I don’t have the high dollar stuff ( please don’t laugh) just the normal Tyco Life Like ect…ect but al of it’s in very good shape. Any one volunteer to give me any pointers to help me start this project out.
Hey, I gotta start somewhere. [;)]
Steve (GNRR)
WELCOME ABOARD!
Nickel is the only way to go. If it’s older track it could be brass.
I clean my nickel track with MAAS, a metal paste cleaner/polisher 2 oz tube
that you can get at Wal-Mart, some Ace stores for about $3.50.
You should also be concerned about clean power pick-up wheels on your locos
Hi,
The best track of the 3 is Nickel Silver. Brass will oxidize and when it does, you lose conduticity. NS on the other hand, when it oxidizes, still conducts electricity.
Engines have come a long way in the last 50 years. If yours still runs, it will not compare with what is availible now. Think of it like the best multi-million dollar computer of the 60’s comapred to the $300 Dell. It will probably would be worth your time just to invest in a decent $35-50 engine and enjoy the difference. Guys here will direct you to the real juicy deals.
WELCOME!!
Steve,
For sanity sake, and to get you (back) into the hobby on the “right track”, I think most of us would say, “Dump the brass track!” and pick up some new nickel-silver. You’ll be happier in the long run.
Steve, you old Tyco trains may run fine for you but they will be more “toy-like”, as compared to the current available and more realistic locomotives that are now on the market. Let us know what kind of layout you are thinking about modeling and we’ll try and steer you in the right direction.
As Chip indicated, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a decent locomotive, with good to very good detailng.
Tom
Welcome back to the hobby, Steve!
You will find a lot has changed with DCC and modern equipment. The detailing puts old stuff to shame, but also get ready for sticker shock!
The average HO car costs $10 now, and a cheap loco is $50, with your average excellent quality new loco around $100.
DCC sound is taking the hobby by storm, but a nice loco with sound will set you back about $200 (either QSI, or install-it-yourself Sountraxx, MRC, and soon-to-be-Digitrax).
Loco quality has so dramatically improved, both detail-wise and performance-wise, that you should pick up at least one new loco just to compare with the old stuff. If I were in your shoes, but knowing what I know about the hobby – and I was wanting to seriously get back into the hobby, here’s what I’d do:
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Buy a new Atlas, Kato, or Athearn Genesis loco (diesel), or a new Bachmann or Lifelike loco (steam) and compare them to my old stuff.
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Sell most of the old locos on ebay (keep only the items with sentimental value).
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Get a new entry level DCC system from Digitrax (Zephyr) or NCE (Powercab).
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Have a ball catching up on what’s happened to the hobby in the last 15-20 years.
Have fun playing with what you have while you do some catching up with what is available today. Read the posts here, subscribe to some magazines, read the new books out there. That way you can decide in which direction you want to go. Of course, I know the urge to get new stuff will overtake any rational plan but take it slowly until you figure out what you want to do. You’re not doing yourself any favors if you get a a dozen Kato modern diesels and then decide you want to model the 40’s etc etc.
Most importantly - welcome back!! The hobby has changed (some will say for the better some will say for the worse) but it is still as much fun and exciting as when I started in the mid-late 70’s!! Don’t be afraid of asking questions, the vast majority of the folks here are super friendly and willing to help. There are also very many people here that are experts in the various aspects of the hobby. HAVE FUN!
Dave
As others have said, nickle silver is the best. Particularlly flex track. Brass is OK if you clean it often but it is not worth the effort to lay it for a permanent layout. MAAS metal polish is good stuff and so is a track cleaning eraser.
Athearn blue box diesels and freight cars are an excellent value. Engines such as GP-9’s or GP-38’s can be had for around $30.00 to $35.00 and 40 ft run of the mill freight car kits can be found for around $6.00 to $8.00.
Would anyone recommend the new RTR line offered by Athearn for a beginner (or an experience person)? My initial thought is that these are assembled blue boxes with perhaps a little more detail. Any thoughts?
You will probably want to clean your old locos and check the lubrication. If you want to get the old trains up and running quickly, get a nice MRC powerpack. I don’t know if you will decide to go with the newer DCC or stay with DC. Still, you can start out DC and then switch. There have been some past threads written about the pros and cons of DCC. If I were starting over with nothing, I’d go the DCC route. As it is, most of my locomotives are pre-DCC and I model Nscale. Not much room inside without radical cutting etc. Also, I understand the old DC technology and am happy with it. Welcome back and have fun! The only thing that really matters is that you enjoy what you are doing and are satisfied with the results. Finally, while there are many good locomotives out there, you can’t go wrong with Atlas. I think they are tops!
GNRR - you’re about 6 months behind me. I pulled my old friends out of the attic around Christmastime. Today I played hooky from work and wired up my track power bus and the lighting bus for my subway tunnels. I went DCC about 2 weeks ago, and decided there is just no comparison. I’ve started retrofitting my old locos with DCC decoders, but the comments above have merit. My newer engines are much, much better, but there is great sentimental value in those old Geeps and F7’s, so I’ll at least make the effort.
So, welcome to the forum. Along with the great proprietor of my Local Hobby Shop (LHS) this is the best source of information around.
I like to use a rag with rubbing alcohol to clean track. It works really well.
Everyone has covered your questions well so I’d just like to say, Welcome Back!
I agree with Dave on this one. They run very good for short $$ invested. Much has changed as Joe Fugate mentions, I would hate to see you frustrated trying to get some of that old stuff to run properly. Welcome back to the hobby.
Bob K.
I’m actually enjoying the effort of refurbishing 40-year-old engines and rolling stock. The real test will come when I get one equipped with a DCC decoder and I can run it side-by-side (literally!) with a newer offering. With some of the junk cars I used to pull around, even a Kadee coupler refit is an interesting technical challenge.
But, one thing I’ve found from reading these forums is that every one of us has different strengths that they bring to the hobby. Being away for so long, I discovered all sorts of fun things to do that I’d never have guessed I’d enjoy working on, let alone be good enough at to show it to anyone else.
So, clear track ahead! Open 'er up, and enjoy the ride!
Be very careful with the old locomotives. I dug out some 1970’s PennCentral locomotives that were made by Lima of Italy and one caught fire when I tried to run it. The wiring and motor had corroded and deteriorated so bad that they would no longer run.
As others have wisely suggested, go to a local hobby shop and purchase a good locomotive – Athearn RTR, Athearn Genesis, Kato, Proto 2000, or Bachmann Spectrum. Put that on the track beside your older engines and compare the detail. Then run both of them, and you’ll probably be amazed as how much better the newer models run.
Hey GNRR
Welcome aboard[C):-)]
Does your user name stand for Georgia Northeastern RR???
DRew