I wonder if Rod Stewart used Ed's code 83 Platinum rail on his magnificent layout.
If he did I guarantee you he didn't get the materials from catalytic converters.
Track fiddler Huh. Can some one please explain to me why Platinum is needed and what its purpose is for in a catalytic converter.
Huh. Can some one please explain to me why Platinum is needed and what its purpose is for in a catalytic converter.
Platinum is used in a chemical reaction to convert the nastier bits of a car's exhaust into less nastier stuff. You ever notice car exhaust doesn't smell as bad as it used to and makes you less dizzy? That's because the platinum is converting the carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Still stuff you don't want to breathe, but you won't die as fast?
They start marketing platinum track to those who can afford it, burglars all over the country will be casing model railroads -- and ripping up the track whether or not it's platinum.
Good grief, Charlie Brown
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Huh. Thanks for clarifying that one for me NittanyLion.
I suppose driving on the highways and breathing that air everyday is a little worse than all the fuss about secondhand smoke. Things that make you go hmmm.
I think I better re-rail this thread back to subject before we all get in trouble.
I think more importantly than changing the alloy that track rails are made of. The greatest thing the model railroad track manufacturers could do is give us 8 foot length rails we could thread the 30 to 36 inch plastic ties so we have less joints on our curves.
That would be a good thing.
Track fiddler The greatest thing the model railroad track manufacturers could do is give us 8 foot length rails we could thread the 30 to 36 inch plastic ties so we have less joints on our curves. That would be a good thing.
The greatest thing the model railroad track manufacturers could do is give us 8 foot length rails we could thread the 30 to 36 inch plastic ties so we have less joints on our curves.
MicroEngineering will sell you 6' lengths of rail.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
And there you go!
I soldered code 83 rail into 12' and 15' lengths for using it with Central Valley tie strips. To accommodated the rail joiners, I used a cut-off disc in a motor tool to alter the base at each end of each 3' section of rail, making the base both thinner and narrower, then used code 55 rail joiners. Obviously, the rail joints are still there, but they're not all that obvious, even when you're looking for them. The rail was affixed to the tie strips using contact cement.
Wayne
Have to say, I enjoy the clickety clack of steel wheels going over rail joints. Of course my layout is set in the '50s, when welded rail was minimal.
Good information to be had on this thread !
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Bayfield Transfer Railway MicroEngineering will sell you 6' lengths of rail.
M E sure likes thier 6's. I laid my cork for 5 and 7 turnouts. Although I have heard of people mixing Atlas with M E. I'm not sure how that will look.
mlehman They start marketing platinum track to those who can afford it, burglars all over the country will be casing model railroads -- and ripping up the track whether or not it's platinum. Good grief, Charlie Brown
They start making Platinum track I'm going to go get a job there.
I'll be like Johnny Cash with my big lunch box.
And I'll build it one piece at a time and it won't cost me a dime you'll know it's me when my train comes through the town.
Good news is, unless you're trying to get a full size loco from GE, you won't even need a buddy with a mobile home.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Good news is, unless you're trying to get a full size loco from GE, you won't even need a buddy with a mobile home. --Randy
Lol. Right.
How would any of the materials mentioned in this thread be better than nickel silver?
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
People have declared that nickel silver rail corrodes.
Platinum does not corrode.
Ed
7j43k People have declared that nickel silver rail corrodes. Platinum does not corrode. Ed
Ed,
As mentioned before - and in just about any application - it depends primarily on how well you take care of it. (FYI: Even stainless steel can corrode under the right circumstances and conditions.) Polish/burnish and minimize the amount of abrasion to the surface of NS rail and it should serve you well for years. Exotic metals is a waste of money...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I have brass track that is older than me, often stored in an uncontrolled space. It's badly tarnished, but not corroded. A good cleaning and it would probably be usable (some of it is actually fiber tie flex, amazing it isn;t curled up, but still probably out of gauge).
The oldest nickel silver track I have is probably 20 years old. Also not corroded.
It's not so much a corrosion issue (unless you are building an outdoor layout at a beachfront house by the ocean) as it is an oxidation issues. Most metals react with oxygen. The oxides formed by many are non-conductive - the only way to stop this is to seal up your layout room and fill it with pure nitrogen, but that may make operations difficult. Other metal oxides remain conductive, if at a lower level than the base metal. Such is the case with nickel silver.
Randy,
Corrosion is the result of an oxidation process, in which metals react with oxygen, ending in the turning of metals into various oxides, which we commonly call rust.
Order rail in 1/4 mile long strips or make it that long like prototype railroads do.
In my area, the Pan Am railway has had 1/4 mile, 136 lb, ribbon rail put down for a new Amtrak routing.
They used new ties with Pandrol clips and the upgrade was quite fast. no more spikes.
New turnouts were assembled nearby before the rail was put down.
Quite something to see a long string of flatcars with layers of 1/4 mile ribbon rail.
A lot less clacking. I ride a bicycle on the road near the mainline and sometimes carry bike accros the rails until the new tunnel is finished in Octtober. Rail trail on both sides of the main.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
mobilman44Have to say, I enjoy the clickety clack of steel wheels going over rail joints. Of course my layout is set in the '50s, when welded rail was minimal....
You could use a razor saw to make shallow cuts in the railhead every 39'. This would give a real prototypical clickety-clack.
Track fiddler...They start making Platinum track I'm going to go get a job there....
A big lunchbox is one thing, but one that's three feet long might raise a few eyebrows - unless, I suppose, you take subs for lunch everyday.
I remember my Dad talking about a guy with whom he worked, supposedly rather "light fingered". Somebody had bet him that he couldn't swipe an especially large bench vise.Apparently, he came to work one day wearing a long overcoat (luckily, it was in the winter). When he left work that afternoon, the vise was between his legs, suspended on a very sturdy rope that he had wrapped around his neck and shoulders. As soon as the guy was out of sight of the guard, the vise was ditched.There were incidents at the steel plant where I worked where contractors would leave the plant with either company or other contractors' equipment. This included office trailers, and heavy equipment, like front-end loaders and backhoes. Why bother building it from pieces when you can get it r-t-r?
RR_Mel....When I was piddling with G gauge in my garden railroad I did have a problem with the G gauge brass rails. When ants got crushed on the rails if left on the rails their remains would eat the brass. I had to run a heavy scrubber car in every train. I tried some Green stuff to prevent the ants from using the rails as freeways but watering would do that in. I ran a Centerline car with the roller soaked with the Green stuff and that helped but ants were still a big problem for the brass rails.
The problem was caused by the formic acid in the ants' bodies.
Platinum eh why not titanium if its good enough to hold my spine together its good enough for rail.
Joe Staten Island West
hi all here is my 2 cents ( not that it's worth much as I like selector am the farthest from an electrical engineer or metalurgist as well )
How about we do away with the whole issue by not using the rails to conduct energy. This way you could us any metal to create the rails as the dirt would become less an issue.
What i am saying and I'm sure this will happen eventually.With micro circuts and battery tech getting smaller and better. I can for see even n scale radio control engines controlled by wifi for command control and direction speed etc. With a small abttery pack powering the locomotives themselves. Certainly this will be expensive when it first arrives on the seen but with time and sales the cost per unit would go down. I know that garden rail folks are already douing this,so in time we indoor types may reap their rewards.
TB
Still need some sort of 'area' detection for signalling. The prototype uses the track. Our models have always used the track. So even if the propulsion power doesn't coem through the rails, some power needs to flow there for block detection. Few if any of the schemes that use IR sensors can duplicate the 'car somewhere in a block' detection you get with track current sense methods of detection.
rrinker Few if any of the schemes that use IR sensors can duplicate the 'car somewhere in a block' detection you get with track current sense methods of detection.
None do unless you use the bounce detectors (ones that point up at the bottom of the car) every (insert shortest car length) across the whole railroad.
rrinkerSo even if the propulsion power doesn't come through the rails, some power needs to flow there for block detection.
This makes battery power redunant in my mind, because all the problems it solves, are still problems (=>solves nothing). Kind of like keep alives. I have always said that they are neat, but just a band aid solution to the actual problem (be it broken pick ups, insuficient feeders, dirty track or dirty wheels).
Taking the control circuit off the track is a logical step blutooth, or radio now can fit in a locomotive.
rrinker Most metals react with oxygen.
Most metals react with oxygen.
Platinum does not react with oxygen. Or much of anything else.
The oxides formed by many are non-conductive - the only way to stop this is to seal up your layout room and fill it with pure nitrogen, but that may make operations difficult. Other metal oxides remain conductive, if at a lower level than the base metal. Such is the case with nickel silver. --Randy
The oxides formed by many are non-conductive - the only way to stop this is to seal up your layout room and fill it with pure nitrogen, but that may make operations difficult. Other metal oxides remain conductive, if at a lower level than the base metal. Such is the case with nickel silver.
I should very much like to hear about "metal oxides [that] remain conductive".
Apparently rhenium oxide is as conductive as metallic silver. Who knew? What others have you found?
But here, we're talking about oxides of copper, nickel, and zinc. When I do an online search for oxides of these metals, I find nothing about them being conductors. Nickel oxide, for example, is plainly stated to be non-conductive. Copper and zinc oxides can apparently be semi-conductors at times, but I still found nothing hinting there were conductors.
doctorwayne Track fiddler ...They start making Platinum track I'm going to go get a job there.... Wayne
Track fiddler
...They start making Platinum track I'm going to go get a job there....
A better question is why the heck are people still making steel (not stainless, regular steel) tracks, the very thing nickel silver was to replace as a much less expensive alternative to brass. Unlike nickel silver, steel rusts and can rust very fast if not maintained properly.
Just clean the track more often, look up more efficient or long lasting ways of doing so, it'll save you a lot of trouble.
SETH CRAWFORD Unlike nickel silver, steel rusts and can rust very fast if not maintained properly.
Unlike nickel silver, steel rusts and can rust very fast if not maintained properly.
The easiest way to confirm the regular use of prototype rail is the presence of unrusted steel on the crown. Conversely, though, if one wanted to model rarely used and therefore rusted trackage, is there some sort of STAIN for nickel silver rail that does not impede the transfer of current to wheels and other contacts? Seems as though there are some metals that can be discolored other than with a coat of paint. I wonder if nickel silver is one of them.
John
I'd like to make a point.
Nickel silver was the last Improvement done in the 70's as Kevin stated, OP of this thread.
It was a great Improvement. It oxidizes or corrodes (whatever you want to call it) very slow. As Ulrich basically said rust is rust. My classic car agrees with that one as well as I do.
What I'm getting at I think nickel silver rail is just fine it's not like it's rotting out disintegrating into the plywood on our layouts.
The issue a lot of modelers on this forum have stated is the corrosion, oxidation whatever you want to call it causes lack of continuity in the track connectors joining the rails.
I guess this can make sense especially after you ballast and the water and glue seeps into the track joiners and Festers overtime.
So my point is. Would stainless steel rail and stainless steel track joiners be a better solution.
Bear with me here. It's a no-brainer and everyone knows two pieces of Steel close together where the moisture can not dissipate rusts faster than anywhere else.
That's why the seams that come together around the wheel wells on our cars always rusted out first.
Stainless does not rust. Stainless is more expensive but not extremely more expensive than steel. Especially in the size of our little tinsel tail rails I don't think it would be that expensive.
One more plus I would like to point out about stainless steel. No matter what type of alloy you use for model railroad rail, black gunk will always beckon us.
Nothing likes to stick to stainless steel. We had a stainless a steel counter in our fish cleaning house at my parents Resort. Windows were on all four sides and the sun baked through them.
Some of our guests were pigs and they left their fish guts and slop all over the counters. I would have to go and clean it up the next day after the sun-baked it on.
Guess what, the stuff came off easily I never had a problem with that. Maybe black gunk would too.
Edit I have a lot of stock in stainless steel.
Disclaimer: Just kidding