Noticeing my nickel silver track is getting a darkish stain looking on the top of the ball. Dark grey and looks like stains simular to the finger stains on the wifes good siver tea set. If I wipe it off witha a track cleaner it comes back in a few days. I also cleaned it with alchol and Maased it, and its back again. Doesnt hurt anything but is anoying to look at. John
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Any new locomotives or rolling stock lately? Any engine maintenance or lubrication? It could be coming off the wheels. Also, have you been ballasting anywhere? The spraying of wet-water can get on the tracks, which gets on the wheels and spreads elsewhere.
it’s possible that the nickel silver plating is very thin and may be wearing off exposing the brass underneath the plating. the brass will tarni***o a darker color in just a few days.
Hmmmm…
My nickls-silver track is solid alloy. It isn’t plated brass. IS there nickle-silver plated brass track out there?
Anything is possible but not probable.
Thanks to Nigel of this forum, composition of NS is"Copper 65%, Nickel 10% and
Zinc 25%".
My EZ-Track is NS, and it also has the occasional dark ‘streak’. They don’t seem to affect performance of my three locos, one a small 0-6-0. Some guys here feel that plastic wheels are the cuplrits.
If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it until I came to the inescapable conclusion that my locos were not behaving as they should. Then, I’d scrub lightly with a Bright-Boy and that should suffice. Otherwise, use MAAS or Goo-Gone or Goof -Off.
When you’re talking about rails, what is “the ball”? I’ve dabbled in this stuff since the 1960s and I’ve heard all about the “web” of the rail, etc. but I don’t recall the term “ball” used in reference to track.
Cheers,
Ed
i thought you were talking about norfolk southern track, have you recently oiled a loco?? this could put a coating on the rack… are you a heavy smoker or have visitors who smoke this will tarni***he track… i have been using rail zip (or zap cannot remember ) a small bottle will last a lifetime and i have been using it with good results…just dont use too much…peter
Ed, sorry about the terminolgy, was dieeeegresssing a bit back into my apprentiship a tad. While welding a rail togather ( more decades ago then I care to count) I had a thermal crack on lthe top of the rail, thinking I was making another dumb apprintest mistake I went and found the blacksmith of whome had a fantastic rep for welding rail. He asked if the thermal crack ran up the web or just on top of the ball. Quickley stated, I aint welding a ball Joe, Im welding a rail. He just slowley nodded his head side to side, son we have a lot to learn …dont we…He then showed me his technique. Have been calling the top of the rail “the ball ever since” LOL
Peterjenkinson, could be the smoke, hmmmmm. May give up this nasty habit, its not hard to do…sometime I quit several times a day.