hi all new to railroading what is the best track to use for ho scale steel or brass can you mix /match brands thank you in advance for any help
Don’t use either. Nickle silver is a much better choice and is readily obtainable.
Joe
I agree, both steel and brass corrode and are labor intensive to keep clean and conductive. Nickle silver is more corrosion resistant, giving more reliable operations. It still needs cleaning, but not as much as th other materials.
Yes to nickle silver.
You can mix and match readily but will want to know how best to do that. You may know that there are several track codes (rail heights) in a given scale; e.g., HO code 100, 83, etc. Of course it is easiest to stick with one code (I use 83) but some folks like to use a smaller code on sidings, for instance. The differing codes can be joined in a couple of ways. One is to buy a “transition track” piece that has different codes at each end. Another is to keep the rail tops at the same height at a rail joint of differing codes by shimming the shorter one in one of several ways.
Another difference can relate to joining different brands (in some cases) even with the same code (rail height). In my case, my Atlas code 83 flex track has thicker ties than my choice of Walthers-Shinohara turnouts. While some folks find this 0.017" difference not an issue, the conservative way to address is to shim the thinner tie’d turnouts, either with 0.015" styrene sheet or simply the cardboard that the turnout comes in (close enough).
Bottom line, choose the track code(s) and brand(s) you like. You will be able to blend them as desired without great trouble.
hi joe thank you for your help it was helpful mike
thank you George I will keep that in mind mike
thank you paul I think I will go with all code 100 it seems the most common not sure what that means any other help you would like to give would be most helpful mike