Track Material

[w900snowman]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the hobby and was looking for for advice on track material, and possibly recommended manufacturers. I am mostly curious about aluminum vs. brass. I am planning on using track power and the trains will be indoors for the time being. I have been looking at USA, Aristocraft, and Llagas creek. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[two tone]

Hi W900snowman to the forum,  I use LGB my layout as been out doors for over 5yrs and ive had no problems with it. I have moved my layout around as ive exspaned and track alway works 100% when I relay it.     You will find a good supply of track on ebay always check if its new .  Hope this helps

[PJM20]

Welcome to the forum! I have LGB brass track and nothing has ever given me a problem. I hope you enjoy your time here. - Peter

[ttrigg]

Welcome to the forum. Track type has been discussed many times here. A few of the pro’s and con’s of track type are, Stainless steel requires little to no cleaning for track power, unless it is painted (on the sides) you will see silver streaks running around the empire. Brass requires some cleaning (I use a pole sander like used for plastering walls about 5~8 minutes a month or so.) brass develops a rustic brown patina that resembles real rails. Aluminum oxidizes a bit and also needs cleaning but is much easier on the wallet. When pushing electrons through the rails, your connections are more important than the type of rail used. Brass rail is easily soldered into longer sections reducing the number of rail clamps required. Stainless, Brass, and Aluminum all perform well and the selection of one over the other is a question of personal preference and how fat your wallet is.

[g. gage]

Welcome aboard; I use track power (Aristo Altima 10amp, 27mz Train Engineer) and brass track (Aristo, LGB, USA) and ditto Tom’s comments. For track cleaning, before each run day I run a modified (after being blown off the tracks) Aristo track cleaning car with a 3X3’ 3M green pad replacing Aristo’s track cleaner. I spray a little WD40 on the pad, works great. The green pad can be used on both sides and turned 90 degrees on each side.

 

Have fun, Rob

 

[mgilger]

I use both track and battery power (Aristo Altima 10amp, 27mz Train Engineer) and brass track (Aristo). Aristo-Craft often run a buy 4 and get 1 free deal on their boxes of track, which makes it a little more afordable.

Mark

[w900snowman]

Thank you for all the help. I plan on stopping by my local hobby shop this week and geting some to get me started. Thanks again