Should I use old brass track to build new layout?


GEXR

GEXR

New Member
Years ago, I inherited a large HO train collection including a wealth of code100 brass track and turnouts. I have since designed my first 4x8' layout that will require additional track, however, it looks like brass track is no longer available in stores. I also would rather not mix brass with nickel-silver for reasons of conductivity and it just wouldn't look right.

My question is should I search for used brass components to match my aged collection of brass track or should I purchase entirely new nickel-silver track..., perhaps code83? The brass track could be brought back into working order with a good cleaning. Would it be worth the effort to force the brass track to go the distance or is nickel-silver truly the best option? Would my collection of brass track be worth any money to anyone if I chose to get rid of it? Thanks for your consideration.

-James
 
you may clean the brass track, but you'll have to keep cleaning it. Bite the bullet and get the NS track. Use the brass for the tail end of sidings and such where power won't run and the corroded surface won't matter.

trust me, you'll be happier.
 
James, you may want to read this thead, which pertains directly to your question: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10081. You can mix brass and NS track together with no problem. There are products like Rail Zip which will keep brass track almost as clean as NS. I have several inherited brass switches on my layout and they work just fine. You would, of course, want to get code 100 NS track to mate with your code 100 brass track.

The only reason I would junk the brass track is if you know you want to stay in this hobby long term and want code 83 track because it looks closer to prototype rail height. In that case, you're better off to start fresh with all new code 83 NS track. To answer your last question, brass track is virtually worthless and has no collector value. One of the reasons to stay with brass track is you can pick it up from e-bay dirt cheap.
 
The main reason not to go with brass is that it does not conduct electricity well when it is corroded. NS track, on the other hand does.

One of the large layouts I operate on is 30 years old and brass. He says he never cleans it. On the other hand, he has run an op session every week for the last 30 years. The point is, if you run a lot, brass is no problem. If you don't, say you go three weeks, you may have to scrub every inch of track before you can get your trains to work.

Most people take breaks from the hobby or spend down time--like when building and installing a cool bridge. If you fit that category, I'd scrap the brass and go with NS. In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

Besides, replacing it before you install it is much easier than replacing it after you ballast and scenic around it.
 
If you are not pressed, say for time or for a desire to move ahead quickly, it might be a good idea to make a small mockup and test it for a month. Do a rudimentary cleanup of several sections, and run a train on them once powered to determine that you are confident in the brass. Then wait two weeks....do nothing but read and plan, acquire some things, build a model for the layout...and then try a run with the train. If it doesn't work well, you will have a better sense of what we are talking about. If it runs quite well....you have saved yourself some expense and can enjoy something with sentimental value. The coating of Wahl's Clipper Oil or Rail Zip is a solution, too.

On the other hand, you are probably getting anxious to make some real progress and want to get on with building the layout. If I could stand to pay something like $100 for several sections of nickel-silver Code 83 and for five or six good quality turnouts (Peco Streamline come to mind), hopefully including any shipping, it would be the way I would go. Don't forget a couple of packages of metal joiners to keep on hand. You'll want a metal file to put a slight bevel on the flange faces and the top surfaces at the very ends of each section of track, whether the factory cut them or you did. Sometimes you need to use the file to thin the base of the rails, too, if the joiners seem to resist accommodating the rail base.

-Crandell
 
Thank you all for your detailed responses! Your help is much appreciated. Since I don't really have a whole lot of money I think I will pick up the extra brass turnouts that I need from ebay and invest some time in rigorously cleaning all of my track before I use it.
Thanks again for the help.

-James
 
I installed some Brass track by mistake on my layout because it was mixed in w/a whole new box of NS code 100. I clean it about once a month w/all my NS track. It has held up just as good as the NS. I also have 1 #6 brass switch on the layout. I do have some problems w/that because the switch rail isn't as good as the newer Atlas switches.
I bought a switch to replace it in NS.
For many years I could only afford brass track & brass components. I only changed because everyone I talked to said NS was better. I still have to clean my track as often as brass & don't see any difference.
I saw in a hobby catalog about 3 months ago & the brass track was about 100 bucks higher in price than NS by the case. Go figure!!!

Larry
 
I also run a mixture and the huge club I am a member of has a mix of handlaid NS and brass rail. Even the NS needs cleaned with a brightboy after an extended down time for repairs. Look at G scale, most all layouts are brass track, and vigin brass rails like LGB used were the hot item prefered by those running track power. If you run on it regularly, like thru the winter, you should be fine, but if the layout lays dormint over the long summer, then it will probably need a preseason cleaning before you wake it back up from the summer slumber. I usualy take a raining and cold fall weekend to clean up the layout, clean track, clean car and locomotive wheels and do any maintance on the many older steam engines I run. Then after church on sunday I usualy try to run each engine for a short spell to see if any other repair work is needed. While I run trains at the club year round, I have some engines that dont get taken to the club layout. If I got a nice box of brass track and turnouts, I would use it in a heart beat. Money for me right now is beyond tight, and going out and buying all the track I need right now in NS is not going to happen. If you dont use all the brass track, I would hope you would pass it on to someone that would. I know I could use it. Cheers and Good Luck on the new layout. Mike
 
Hm... I suppose this means I should hold onto that brass track my buddy gave me.. and I should try to get that layout my cousin has. It's all laid with brass.
 
Ehh.. second thinking revealed I have no place to put the thing. It's probably 6x9 feet and I have no room for it.

The damn thing has bugged me all my life. I was the only one in my family who had the itch for trains (every other boy liked cars, every girl liked horses.), and my cousin gets a layout when she's 3.
 
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