Some of you may remember that I'm working on getting an old Lionel standard gauge train set up and running again. The next thing I'll be working on is the switches, which are actually in pretty good shape. The old tin plating is gone for the most part, and I know the track will work without it as long as it's really clean. The rest of the regular track is being replaced by new stuff from MTH (Lionel reproductions in the "Tinplate" line), so the switches are going to stick out a bit without their plating.
Is it possible to re-plate the rails with fresh tin? I don't think I'll be able to dip it in a bath of molten metal (which I'm guessing is how they did it), but I was thinking maybe it could be electroplated?
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Not sure on that but sounds reasonable. if you want some 3' sections (new ) let me know we might be able to work something out have an excess of it believe I picked it up for like $5 each about 2 years ago. Going different way know and don't need it.
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If you are able to disassemble it, dunking in tin may not be as impractical as you think. Modern plumbing solder is nearly pure tin since they got the lead out; and the melting point is only 450 degrees Fahrenheit. I have replated railheads with a soldering iron--no disassembly.
Bob Nelson
An easier way would be to buy a small home electroplating kit and then nickel plate it. This is an approach I am taking with some old brass rail from the 30's. I have over 500 feet of a rail size that isn't made anymore but it is mostly brass. I don't want the yellow look so I am plating all of it. It's simple and works great. I can also mix steel rail and brass rail and no one will ever know it as it all looks the same. The switch points on Atlas track is actually all nickel plated brass even though the rails are nickel silver.
Well, I just attempted to dip an old Marx rail into a small bath of molten tin (which I kept hot with a blow torch), and the tin didn't even try to hold onto the steel, which I even got hot enough to start turning red at one point.
So I guess electroplating might work best, if at all. Can anyone tell me specifically how to do it (can't find a good answer with Google)? I don't want to spend much if possible.
Did you use any flux? You generally need an acid flux, like zinc chloride, for soldering steel.
I've been looking into this.
http://www.eastwood.com/ew-electroplating-system-tin-zinc.html
Melting metal and expecting it to stick just isn't going to work. You'd have to literally melt the rail too. Your best option is plating and it is also the quickest. Nickel plating is very easy and you can get a kit for about $50 or so from Micro Mark. Just look at their website and go to the plating section. The nice thing about plating is that you can mix and match rail materials such as brass with steel and yet after plating they look the same. Nickel is actually more conductive than brass which is WAY more conductive than tin or steel. If you want to solder anything to tubular rail you either need a really hot large iron which may still be sloppy or better yet should use resistance soldering which would make it quite easy.
Thanks everyone for your help. I think $50-70 is more than I want to invest for just a couple rails, so I'm going to go ahead and pass on the plating. I'm sure the switches should still work fine with a good cleaning, since they're still in pretty good condition and have very little rust and tarnish.
Well, I've finished cleaning both of the switches.
For having about 70% of their plating gone and being stored in a basement for who knows how many decades, I'd say they came out looking very good. Much to my surprise, the light bulbs still work. And a quick test shows that the 390E can run and travel over them with little trouble, although it will always be pretty rough simply because of the design.
Sure, they don't look as good as switches with freshly plated rails, but I think the owner will still be happy with them (especially since he saved well over $100 by not getting new MTH switches!).
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