Hornblower
mikesmowers wrote: 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
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.
Cascade Green Forever ! GET RICH QUICK !! Count your Blessings.
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):
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
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.
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).CompositionMany alloys fall within the general term of "nickel silver". All contain copper and nickel, while some formulations may additionally include zinc, antimony, tin, lead or cadmium. A representative industrial formulation, Alloy No. 752, is 65% copper, 18% nickel, and 17% zinc. In metallurgical science, such alloys would be more properly termed nickel brass. The white alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel used in coins, such as the United States nickel, is better known as copper-nickel, cupro-nickel or cupronickel.Some nickel silver alloys, especially those containing high proportions of zinc, are stainless (corrosion-resistant).Nickel silver alloys are commonly named by listing their percentages of copper and nickel, thus "nickel silver 55-18" would contain 55% copper, 18% nickel, and 27% other elements, most probably entirely zinc. A two-element alloy may be named for its nickel content alone, thus NS-12 is 88% copper and 12% nickel. [edit] UsesNickel silver first became popular as a base metal for silver plated cutlery and other silverware, notably the electroplated wares called EPNS (electro-plated nickel silver).It is used in zippers, better quality keys, costume jewellery, for making musical instruments (e.g., cymbals), and is preferred for the track in electrically powered model railway layouts as its oxide is conductive. Also, after about 1920, its use became widespread for pocketknife bolsters, due to its machinability and corrosion resistance. Prior to this point, most common was iron.It is widely used in the production of coins (e.g. GDR marks, Portuguese escudo).Its industrial and technical uses include marine fittings and plumbing fixtures for its corrosion resistance, and heating coils for its high electrical resistance.It was used in the construction of the Arly tricone resophonic guitar. It is also used to produce the tubes (called staples) onto which oboe reeds are tied. Guitar frets are made from it, as well on mandolin, banjo, bass, etc.Musical instruments, including the flute, saxophone, and French horn can be made of nickel silver. For example, some leading saxophone manufacturers such as Keilwerth, Selmer, P.Mauriat, Yanagisawa, and Yamaha offer saxophones made of nickel silver which possess a bright and powerful sound quality; an additional benefit is that nickel silver does not require a lacquer finish. For that reason also, it is the most commonly used woodwind keys material - most clarinets, oboes and similar wind instruments have nickel silver keys. [edit] ToxicityAccording to the Merck Manual 17th edition p56, prolonged contact of copper alloys with acidic food or beverages (including boiling milk) can leach out the copper and cause toxicity. Long term, low doses can lead to cirrhosis. It should be of interest that cadmium is known to cause renal failure. [edit] HistoryNickel silver is first known in China, and was known in the west from imported wares called paktong or pakfong (白銅, literally "white copper") where the silvery metal colour was used to imitate sterling silver. It was discovered to be a copper-nickel-zinc alloy in the 18th century. In 1770 the Suhl (Germany) metalworks were able to produce a similar alloy and in 1823 a competition was initiated to perfect the production process by creating an alloy that possessed the closest visual similarity to silver. The brothers Henniger in Berlin and A. Geitner in Schneeberg independently achieved this goal. alpacca became a widely known name in northern Europe for nickel silver after it was used as a trademark brand by the manufacturer Berndorf. A form of German silver was also invented in Birmingham, England in 1832.Nickel silver became widely used after 1840 with the development of electroplating, as it formed an ideal strong and bright substrate for the plating process. It was also used unplated in applications such as cheaper grades of cutlery.
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 nickel, while some formulations may additionally include zinc, antimony, tin, lead or cadmium. A representative industrial formulation, Alloy No. 752, is 65% copper, 18% nickel, and 17% zinc. In metallurgical science, such alloys would be more properly termed nickel brass. The white alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel used in coins, such as the United States nickel, is better known as copper-nickel, cupro-nickel or cupronickel.
Some nickel silver alloys, especially those containing high proportions of zinc, are stainless (corrosion-resistant).
Nickel silver alloys are commonly named by listing their percentages of copper and nickel, thus "nickel silver 55-18" would contain 55% copper, 18% nickel, and 27% other elements, most probably entirely zinc. A two-element alloy may be named for its nickel content alone, thus NS-12 is 88% copper and 12% nickel.
[edit] Uses
Nickel silver first became popular as a base metal for silver plated cutlery and other silverware, notably the electroplated wares called EPNS (electro-plated nickel silver).
It is used in zippers, better quality keys, costume jewellery, for making musical instruments (e.g., cymbals), and is preferred for the track in electrically powered model railway layouts as its oxide is conductive. Also, after about 1920, its use became widespread for pocketknife bolsters, due to its machinability and corrosion resistance. Prior to this point, most common was iron.
It is widely used in the production of coins (e.g. GDR marks, Portuguese escudo).
Its industrial and technical uses include marine fittings and plumbing fixtures for its corrosion resistance, and heating coils for its high electrical resistance.
It was used in the construction of the Arly tricone resophonic guitar. It is also used to produce the tubes (called staples) onto which oboe reeds are tied. Guitar frets are made from it, as well on mandolin, banjo, bass, etc.
Musical instruments, including the flute, saxophone, and French horn can be made of nickel silver. For example, some leading saxophone manufacturers such as Keilwerth, Selmer, P.Mauriat, Yanagisawa, and Yamaha offer saxophones made of nickel silver which possess a bright and powerful sound quality; an additional benefit is that nickel silver does not require a lacquer finish. For that reason also, it is the most commonly used woodwind keys material - most clarinets, oboes and similar wind instruments have nickel silver keys.
[edit] Toxicity
According to the Merck Manual 17th edition p56, prolonged contact of copper alloys with acidic food or beverages (including boiling milk) can leach out the copper and cause toxicity. Long term, low doses can lead to cirrhosis. It should be of interest that cadmium is known to cause renal failure.
[edit] History
Nickel silver is first known in China, and was known in the west from imported wares called paktong or pakfong (白銅, literally "white copper") where the silvery metal colour was used to imitate sterling silver. It was discovered to be a copper-nickel-zinc alloy in the 18th century. In 1770 the Suhl (Germany) metalworks were able to produce a similar alloy and in 1823 a competition was initiated to perfect the production process by creating an alloy that possessed the closest visual similarity to silver. The brothers Henniger in Berlin and A. Geitner in Schneeberg independently achieved this goal. alpacca became a widely known name in northern Europe for nickel silver after it was used as a trademark brand by the manufacturer Berndorf. A form of German silver was also invented in Birmingham, England in 1832.
Nickel silver became widely used after 1840 with the development of electroplating, as it formed an ideal strong and bright substrate for the plating process. It was also used unplated in applications such as cheaper grades of cutlery.
James
Rotorranch wrote:http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAM17&P=MLhttp://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKAD1&P=Fhttp://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
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
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.
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
hornblower wrote: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
Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often you won't even notice ...
Arjay1969 wrote:If it's not steel, then why did the box say "steel" and why did a magnet stick to the rails?
Some of the older MP track was steel. All the new is nickle silver.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
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.
The rails are nickle silver not steel.
Reese
Modeling NS One Locomotive At a Time
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.
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.
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
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin