Is it any good? I know that it is more apt to stay in a curve, but is it worth using on the new layout? I am considering using it on the HO layout as well as on the N scale layout. Thanks, Mike
It is more ‘stiff’ and you have to ‘form’ the curve. I just stick with the Atlas as I spike all of the trackage down anyway…
Jim
I prefer using the Model Power track for doing curved track simply because you can bend it to the radius you want ans it will stay there or at least close to it while you anchor it down.
For straight sections of track I have no preference of one brand over the other except that Hobby Lobby sells the MP brand and I get discount coupons almost every week I can use to buy it at very nice savings.
Hobby Lobby and the 40% off coupons are the main reason I was wondering about it. Thanks, Mike
It’s okay. Stiffer than Atlas, to be sure, but sometimes that’s not a bad thing (ever been working on a curve and let go of Atlas flextrack? Just like whapping someone in the face with a tree branch in the forest).
A word of caution if you’re going to ballast it: It is steel rail, and therefore more prone to rusting.
Model Power flex track is NOT nickel silver??? Mike
The rails are nickle silver not steel.
Not according to the box in Hobby Lobby here. I was going to buy some myself last week for module construction until I saw “Nickel-Steel Alloy Rail”.
It most definitely is NOT Nickel-Silver.
I even found a magnet nearby and tested it…the magnet stuck.
It’s unfortunate, because now I have to drive to Houston to get track. [xx(]
Model Power flex track is NOT steel rail, it is Nickel Silver, just like Atlas, Peco, Shinohara, etc. I have used a mixture of Model Power, Atlas, Shinohara, and Peco flex track and once it is ballasted it’s difficult to tell which brand is which.
If it’s not steel, then why did the box say “steel” and why did a magnet stick to the rails?
Atlas code 80.
Some of the older MP track was steel. All the new is nickle silver.
Harold
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAM17&P=ML
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKAD1&P=F
http://www.internettrains.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?
It appears it is all N/S now. Model Power doesn’t even list flex track on it’s web site. I wonder if Hobby Lobby bought old, discontinued stock?
Rotor
Trainworld offers a 100 pack of Model Power code 83 flex track for $159.99 (that’s $1.60 per piece). The ad does not state steel or nickle-silver rails. At that price, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it’s steel! Worth looking into though.
The code 83 has always been NS. The old code 100 was Steel.
Harold
That’s not entirely unlikely, actually. Don’t get me wrong…I buy stuff from HL frequently. Paints, glues, scenery materials…there’s nowhere else in this town to get them now. I was very surprised to see steel rail there. And they don’t seem to carry ANY code 83 track, at least not at the one here.
I have some Model Power Flex Track and can testify it to being Nickle Silver. The misconception about Nickle Silver Track is that that it has silver in it, That is not true. Fred Lagno wrote an article on competing theories on track cleaning and in his article he did research on the composition of Nickle Silver rail.
His conslusions was something like “No one really knew what Nickle Silver Track was made of, other than it A. had high nickle content and B. was silver in color.” The thing to remember about nickle is that it is that it is a magnetostrictive metal and thus a magnet will be attracted to it. So the magnet would stick to the track. Remember the third grade science experiment where you had to identify the Canadian nickles from the American Nickles without looking at them and the solution was to use the magnent to pick the canadian nickles up because they were made from nickle.
In doing research for this response, I came across an entry in Wikipedia. It took a little help from my freind Lady Raina on the properties of nickle. but But that lead me to this entry where I came across the following about Nickle Silver.
[quote]
Nickel silver is a metal alloy of copper with nickel and often but not always zinc. It is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated. Other common names for this alloy are German silver, paktong, new silver and alpacca (or alpaca).
Composition
Many alloys fall within the general term of “nickel silver”. All contain copper and
I have been using MP NS flextrack for over 20years with excellent results. It’s a little more finikey while laying it but over time there has been no difference in performance between it and Atlas or Peco or Shinohara. MP track has excellent tie detail and small spike heads as opposed to the way-oversize spikes on Atlas code 100. And it’s a lot cheaper.
MP has certainly sold steel sectional track and switches, but I’ve never seen “nickle-steel” flextrack. Compare the color of the rail if you can. The steel rail should be a grey color whereas NS is a silver/nickle color.
This is MP flextrack (slightly used):
Several years ago I got a good “deal” on 100 pieces of Model Power N scale flex track, which I was stockpiling for my helix. Recently I had to dip into it while laying track on my mainline. I was surprised to find that it was way too stiff for my liking. All it wants to do is bend into a warped S-curve.
No way am I putting this stuff anywhere near my helix. I prefer Atlas N scale track. It is so much smoother and easier to work with. I will put the MP track in my yard instead. BTW, the MP track is from Yugoslavia,and it is Nickle Silver. Not meant as a slight to Yugoslavia or Model Power,just info.
Other than making sure that the rail is indeed nickle silver and realizing that the Model Power flex track is not as flexible as Atlas flex track, how does Model Power code 83 flex compare visually to Atlas code 83 flex? Atlas code 83 uses smaller brown ties and smaller spike heads than their code 100 track. What does Model Power use? One previous response mentioned smaller spike heads but I think he was referring to code 100 track. At $1.60 per piece from Trainworld, I’m very interested in the Model Power code 83 flex track but need all the input I can get before I shell out $160 for 100 pieces.