# brass track advantages vs stainless track



## mjll1958 (Jan 2, 2016)

I have always used brass LGB, Aristo or USA track using track power on the 4 outdoor layouts I have built. I have the opportunity to buy some stainless track for the outdoor layout I am building around the pool that I am building in at my new 2nd home in FL. I am using track power and brass track power at my home in the rocky mountains in Utah by the ski areas and it works quite well. I have been told that the sun in FL makes it hard to use track power successfully but in Utah we live at near 7000 feet and the sun is very hot too. Anyone have any experience with both and insight?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

per the title? brass advantages over SS are cheaper, easier to bend, easier to solder.


Per your second question, I am near the Pacific coast, brass would oxidize overnight, 2 nights without cleaning and I needed sandpaper. Went all stainless 20 years ago and still going strong, one of the best decisions I have made. 



https://elmassian.com/index.php/large-scale-train-main-page/beginners-faqs/track-choice







Greg


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## mjll1958 (Jan 2, 2016)

*Brass vs stainless*

I cannot buy enough to finish more than a small part of of planned layout in Florida. I am about 10 miles from ocean but I guess I will have same oxidation problem. I can buy additional from trainli but I need to bend it myself which sounds like a problem, especially since I have a great deal of neurological problems. I guess I will go with battery power as suggested by the Florida railway club. I appreciate your input


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I used sectional stainless track from Aristo, no bending.


If there is a budget issue, when you ask to compare things, you might indicate that.




Are you asking for Florida or Utah?


I would have different recommendations depending on the climate you have in Utah... I understand the climate in Florida, that's why SS is popular there, promoted for some time by H&R Trains. I bought some of theirs, really nice stuff, expensive.



Greg


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Ties are going to be a problem in Utah at 7,000 ft due to UV.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

mjll1958 said:


> I cannot buy enough to finish more than a small part of of planned layout in Florida. I am about 10 miles from ocean but I guess I will have same oxidation problem. I can buy additional from trainli but I need to bend it myself which sounds like a problem, especially since I have a great deal of neurological problems. I guess I will go with battery power as suggested by the Florida railway club. I appreciate your input


I was never aware theat TrainLi carried SS rail. They do have nickel plated brass.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

They don't, you are correct Mike. For some reason, how the product is presented often causes confusion.


I've also had people swear to me that the Train-Li track is solid Nickel, not true either.


I think the only supplier in the US is still the H&R Trains in Florida. But you can find used Aristo stainless, and boxes of ties too.


In Utah, if he is in the arid part, brass might be just fine.


Greg


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

I do believe the nickel plated brass is a good product. Easier to bend, with good contact and conductivity. I installed some that LGB supplied several years ago, it has stood up very well.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice looking stuff, just don't use the LGB track cleaning loco on it!


Some people have still used sandpaper, and if you REALLY overdo it, you can sand the plating right off... stalled trackcleaning locos have done this too.


Greg


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

Very true, no need to use any thing abrasive.


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

Assuming that you can use flex track and not sectional you may want to investigate *Sunset Valley Railroad's* track.

I use their aluminum rail but they also have brass, nickel silver and stainless steel.


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## mjll1958 (Jan 2, 2016)

*Brass Vs Stainless*

In Utah I use brass. I am asking about my new railway in Fl. I know you can you Aristo stainless but it is hard to find


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry, misread first post, thought you were asking in general.


Absolutely go SS around your pool, grit your teeth and get the H&R stuff there in Florida. Even if you have an Olympic sized pool it's not that much track.



If it's near the pool you will get chlorine, and if nothing else, lots of water from the pool and/or hosing down near the pool.


Brass will oxidize and your connections will suffer. I have stainless that gets watered every day, been down almost 20 years. Enough said.


Greg


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## SparkyJoe (Oct 14, 2012)

mjll1958 said:


> In Utah I use brass. I am asking about my new railway in Fl. I know you can you Aristo stainless but it is hard to find



I am in northern Florida and about 10 miles from the ocean. I have used brass rail outside for the last 8 years. I use track power for 1/2 my locos and have no real problems with the oxidation or UV. Rails are connected with Splitjaw connectors.
I occasionally use a Reindeer Pass motorized cleaner attachment on a gondola. It uses 400 grit Emory cloth on a rotating drum. So far everything is doing fine.


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## Noel Wilson (Oct 9, 2018)

If you use sandpaper to clean track dirt gets into the fine scratchs and can cause more problems.Regards


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## bmwr71 (Jan 30, 2010)

Seems I read people comment that LGB nickle track tended to have the plating peel off. Is that true?

Doug


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Those of us, without large bank balances, found, when building our railroads that track was a major expense. Maybe some folk buy smaller quantities at a time, but I suspect most of us get enough, in one fell swoop, the get the road up and running.
The majority of lines I saw - visited/web sites/magazines seemed to have brass rail. That is what I bought. I have added more as the line has developed.
I did buy two stainless steel Aristo switches when there was a shortage of brass ones. I rather like them. As they stand out with relation to the tarnished brass track I have relegated them to spurs.
With hindsight I believe had I known the existence of stainless steel track when I built my RR (in 2005) I would have purchased that instead of brass.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Doug: There appears to have been a batch with poor plating, it was kept pretty quiet. Like paint, you don't know if it was applied correctly unless it peels off.


Alan, many of us who bought SS Aristo track saved up and bought bit by bit using the January special which was 20% off effectively. It took me a number of years to get all my track, but compared to the cost of my locos, it is less. 



The best single decision I have made for my railroad, cost or not it is your foundation. If the foundation is no good, or causes excessive maintenance, the hobby is no fun.


Greg


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Indeed Greg, many of us this side of the Atlantic envied you folk who were able to take advantage of the January Sale offers. It wasn't so much the prices - which were always very reasonable - but the shipping costs. S/S track is heavy


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Great Western said:


> Indeed Greg, many of us this side of the Atlantic envied you folk who were able to take advantage of the January Sale offers. It wasn't so much the prices - which were always very reasonable - but the shipping costs. S/S track is heavy


The offer used to be "buy four boxes of track and receive a fifth box of equal value for free" and IIRC, it used to be in February.

When I bought my brass AristoCraft track new in 1997, on the sale, it worked out to $2.05/ft. George Schreyer bought his the year before (1996) and it worked out to $2.00/ft on sale.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, I have about 1,000 feet, bought over several years all on sale. Ahh, the good old days!


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## LeeinNC (Jun 30, 2020)

great thread, informative, ty, whats the best place to buy stainless in US?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Right now, the used market is all you have unless you go to H&R






Track & Rail Material


Greg Elmassian web site on large scale trains and garden railroads, cigars, and computers




elmassian.com





Greg


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