I have just finished dismantaling my current layout and ended up saving all my track and turnouts. I was just going to buy all new until I checked on the price of the new Atlas track in code 100. WOW! Thought I would have to second mortgage my home. I have over 600 feet of track and allot of turn outs, all Atlas. Getting the track up was a real challenge, tried hot water with dish soup in it, it worked ok but damaged some track while prying up, so I moved to using alc 70%. It worked like a charme then, soaking the track sections in the 70% blend made all the ballast and glue, and caulk fall right off. I finished building the bench work yesterday and it will take what I have and then some of track to cover the bench work. Spent 6 years on the other set up, figure it will take that to get this one done.
Sounds like a good plan and if the track rails stay in gauge and the ties are cleaned up enough it should not be an issue for re-use and laying down again on the new benchwork.
And no law says you have to use an entire 3 foot piece if part of it is damaged. Cut around the bad parts.
One lesson I have learned is to save every usable piece, even down to an inch long, because you just know that if you toss it on a Monday, you’ll find you need it on a Tuesday.
The other lesson is that track is pretty forgiving and if a tie or two are bad, you can remove them, put “dummy” ties under the rails in their place, and the other ties will hold gauge just fine.
Dave Nelson
I have always salvaged every inch of rail, flex or loose, from every layout I’ve built. As a result, I have some flex that has probably served on five different layouts since I acquired it.
I use the really ugly sections of flex to lay hidden track. As long as it’s in gauge, who cares what it looks like if you have to lift a mountain off it to see it? Some of my loose rail, laid on pine planks without ties or roadbed, now serves as the stub ends of two hidden yards.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Nothing wrong with re-using old track. You may want to check the Atlas prices at this place. You might be pleasantly surprised.[;)]
http://www.nhshobbies.com/category_s/368.htm
I would use a Dremel wire wheel to clean the rails where the joiners touch.
Jim
Jim already did that, it is a good idea, thanks! Loath had a great web site to go to. I did a rough list of items I needed for replacement like some of my switches and other track that I need. MB Klein was $284, Standard Habboy Supply was $249, Train World was $248 and NHS Hobbies was $231, so NHS wins. My closest Hobby shop is 50 miles away the price I got from them was well over $350, and some of the items he was going to have to order, because he did not carry them. The prices all consist of the same number of items, and NHS wins hands down.
Some of my older track that is Atlas brass flex, switches, straits, curves, and what not was in really dirty grimmy shape which I don’t mind, but when I polished them up for the rail joiners on the sides they looked kind of funny. My wife really noticed it, and took 2 small peices and said she wanted to try something, she was gone for about 3 minutes and returned with them looking like brand new. She ended up cleaning all of my brass track with CLR and rinsed them with lots of water, it even cleans the ties really well. I know some people really do not like the older brass, but I have both N/S and brass. Go look on ebay and see what they are getting for brass track, its spooky!
Hooray for old brass track user guys, I’ve never had a problem and obviously neither have the above, for every person that uses brass( new or old) there will be 900 replies on the down side of it’s use, Just ignore them, BUT one question: what do the N/S track guys do with all their old track? they must make sure it goes to the dump because it’s sure hard to get hold of, every time I ask someone they tell me they just threw out 600 pieces in the dumper. HAVIN’ FUN ON OLD BRASS TRACK ! !
ICRR,
I was in the same boat in 2000. After a few years of trying like heck to save my marriage, my wife kicked me out of my house. I had a 14x25 foot layout with alot of track laid but not yet balasted. There was a 10 track staging yard with 18-24’ storage capacity, and making use of 4 Shinohara #8 curved turnouts and a three way. The main track was all code 70 and more special turnouts and a sizable yard. I saved it all! Its in boxes waiting to be used again!
If you have old brass, there are two places where it is really useful, and one place where there’s a good reason for using it if you have it. The really useful places?
- Track bumper ends of industrial spurs.
- Stub ends of back-in staging tracks.
Note that in both cases, there’s very little likelihood of a locomotive getting onto the brass rail, which automatically simulates sometimes-used rail that has been rained on.
The other place where using brass if you have it makes sense? The most accessible portions of your busiest main line! Heavily-used track usually requires less cleaning than track which only sees occasional service.
Then there are all the places where the prototype would have rail that would never feel a flanged wheel - everything from rail racks to fenceposts to parking space wheel stops. My prototype even built the support trusses for pedestrian overpasses from small-section used rail.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with some brass rail)
I had a few peices of N/S track that got mixed in with the older brass when cleaning with the CLR, it cleaned the ties well, but I think it hurt the metal it got kind of foggy, and spotty looking. I had several of the N/S peices that were on siding that never got used, they were close to a ext wall and they got like a white rust on them, that does not come off easy. Polishing did the trick finally, but the clean up on the brass was a snap.
Ill agree to with old brass working fine, Some of it has to be close to 30 years old or older! I took a micrometer to it and checked the thickness for different reading it only varied 3 to 4 thousands of an inch at worst. Now some of my older N/S I did the same, and got 7 to 12 thousands difference. Most of the wear is in the curves to, but since a I run allot of older and newer loco’s, I think the older loco’s are a bit harder on the N/S rail, which means the N/S does not where as well.
Besides, I have several freinds who take the time to paint the sides of the rails so they look dirty and old, brass does it all by itself with the air humidy.
I’ve used old track again from previous layouts. One of the biggest problems is broken ties. I usually cut out the tie and once the track is in place on the layout, I’ll replace the tie gap with a strip of balsa wood cut to the length of the tie and then spike it in place with rail spikes…chuck
Code 83 N/S is in vogue, therefor $ells. Old track is generally BRASS track, and brass tarnishes, but WORKS. METAL wheels tend to keep brass rail polished.
There used to be only ONE rail available - Atlas (code 100). Today there are choices of manufacturers and sizes. Code 83 looks better, as does code 70 (HO). N gauge uses code 50 (half size code 100).
With metal wheels, I find unused brass tarnishes, and used N/S collects carbon from electrical sparks, so wheel and track cleaning is a necessary evil - sort of like dusting and mopping the upstairs.