Brass track confusion

[TurboOne]

Alright I am totally confused now. I rejoin the hobby about 3-4 weeks ago. At the LHS they say throw all of my brass away and buy nickel silver as it doesn't have to been cleaned and it conducts better.

At the MRR club they clean their nickel silver track with a train car.

I was talking to some outdoor G gauge folk, and they all want brass track for their layouts.

I did get some nickel silver for my layout, but haven't dropped the $$ for switches yet. I used brass for my 22 curves, and other than using my bright boy for cleaning on both types I haven't had problems. If my gandy dancer runs, all my trains run. If he stutters, I clean track.

So why do HO not like brass, O still uses 3 rail I remember as a kid, and G likes brass?

Tim

[dehusman]

Both brass and NS corrode. Brass corrosion is not conductive and requires more cleaning than NS. Regardless of what the G group says, the NS track is better.

Dave H.

[Paul3]

Your LHS was wrong. You still have to clean N-S track, just not as often.

Just to make life more confusing, N-S track is actually made of brass with some additives to it that makes it "Nickel-Silver".

The big deal with G these days is actually stainless steel track, not brass. Brass works well, but it is not very realistic (wrong color) and it gets dirty faster than other materials. It does, however, conduct electricity better, and it slightly more "sticky" (resulting in more traction for the locos).

HO likes N-S because of the realistic color and the cleanliness of it. G likes brass because it's good for outdoor use (but why they don't use N-S in G I don't know). O uses tinplate rail because they always have.

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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[rrinker]

Nickle-Silver contains no silver, but it does contain brass...confusing, eh? It's just a different alloy.

There IS an advantage of brass, it's a better conductor than nickle-silver. I believe the coefficient of friction is slightly higher as well, but I'm too lazy to search for a table on the internet right now [:)]. This is why the large scale outdoor people like it - plus a LOT of them DON'T use the track for power, they have battery powered locos using radio control. I don't know that there is G gauge nickle-silver track - their alternatives are steel and aluminum.

Everyone else is correct - you DO need to clean nickle silver. The oxide of nickle silver may be conductive, but the dirt is not [:D]. You can help keep dirt down by using metal wheels in your rolling stock instead of plastic, but even so, this does NOT make it so you will never have to clean the track.

--Randy

[jwar]

Hi TurboOne

I also recentley returned to the hobbie after more decades then I care to count. Due to the cost of getting on track sort to speak, I still use my brass turnouts in my yard. Toss the old brass rail joiners. The cost of replacing 20 turnouts will be on down the road. I use new NS turnouts on the main. However I use brasso to clean and poli***he brass and Maus on the NS. Seems to prolong cleaning both.

I visited a very large and impressive layout, he uses both NS and brass. Granted its a very old pike, its also well maintained.

Brass if clean will work as good as it it did before your retired it years ago. Those that say just scrap it, have deeper pockets and thick wallets then me. Take care...John

[Fergmiester]

Brass will gum up your wheels quicker thus requiring pain staking wheel "shaving". Yes NS track will require cleaning but not near as much time required.

A bright boy (track eraser) is a must for all track as it will scrub the heavier deposits off.

Bras when not in use will oxidize quickly, espesially in a humid atmosphere/environment.

One of the tools I have is a CMX track cleaning car. This also keeps the tracks clean.

It's a never ending battle but a battle you will have to keep an upper hand on as dirt will bring your Locos to a grinding halt with little warning!

Fergie

[IRONROOSTER]

O gauge now has alternatives to the the tubular track, see Atlas. Also, O scale has two rail track for the non Lionel crowd.

The primary advantage I find for NS is that it looks better. As a plus less cleaning is needed. With S scale there is almost no cleaning required, using Shinohara track and turnouts - just where the points meet the stock rails a couple of times a year.

If you already have brass, you can certainly use it. Even if you have to clean it a little more, that's not too bad for a small layout with no hidden track. You could also try out some track cleaning cars or make your own.

Enjoy
Paul