I have a short section of my layout that is indoors. I am contemplating using Aluminum rail rather than Brass due to limited funds! I will add electrical feeder direct to rail. How well does Aluminum conduct electricity? I don’t run track power but visitors do. Thanks Todd
Not well
I think aluminum is an excellent conductor of electricity. Problem is, when it oxidizes, the oxidation does NOT conduct. When it was used in house wiring, you had to use a dielectric grease on splices to prevent oxidation, which led to poor conductivity, heat and in some cases house fires. Just plan on cleaning the railhead when you are going to use track power, and go for it! Oh, and another tip I picked up, a fellow who uses aluminum rail was using brass split jaw rail joiners. Bad, deal, the dis-similar metals oxidize quickly. He simply put a little aluminum foil between the rail and the joiner, and had no further problems.
Hi Todd
Have a look at this
http://www.kp44.org/ftp/ElectricalConductivityOfMaterials.php
Alu has better electrical conductivity than brass, it’s the oxide that is the problem. It’s probably less indoors than out in the weather, after all we can keep our alu pots clean, can’t we?
William pretty well has it nailed.
Another problem with aluminum is the higher thermal expansion. But this should not be a problem indoors.
Oxidation really didn’t give me any problems. I rarely cleaned the rails.
Ralph
Todd
I apologize…I skim read a lot of post’s and have a short attention span at times…I ASSUMED you were contemplating aluminum track OUTSIDE for your track powered visitors which resulted in my quick uninformative advice. Also brass and aluminum don’t mix well as already stated…
I’ll go to my corner now as these guys got you covered quite well!
Sounds like I better go brass. Too bad Aluminum is about a 1/3 the $$$$.
David Russell said:If Rooster eats Crow, would that be a case of cannibalism? :O :/
Todd I apologize.....I skim read a lot of post's and have a short attention span at times......I ASSUMED you were contemplating aluminum track OUTSIDE for your track powered visitors which resulted in my quick uninformative advice. Also brass and aluminum don't mix well as already stated... I'll go to my corner now as these guys got you covered quite well!
Todd,
I didn’t list the common household cleaners to keep alu track working i.e. clean.
At 1/3 the price I would get a sample and see how it goes. BTW there are different grades of alu, too, they don’t all oxidize at the same rate. Best to ask the mfgs what grade they use and then look on the Internet what the specs are.
todd whittier said:Why not use aluminum? I'm assuming your track will be elevated, so you don't have to worry about anyone stepping on it, and it doesn't sound like you'd have to keep it clean it often. People use drywall sanding pads to easily polish up the rail heads for track power. And, you would not be using enough power to ever put you at risk of a fire or anything. I'm using aluminum track for my elevated outdoor layout.
Sounds like I better go brass. Too bad Aluminum is about a 1/3 the $$$$.
After watching the “Remember” video again I remembered that I have alu track tucked in a drawer. It’s the Llagas Creek stuff I got as a sample - to compare tie patterns - and it has been sitting there for at least three years (how am I to remember?), anyway here are two shots “Oxidized track”
(http:///F-PIX/Llagas250Galu02a.jpg)
(http:///F-PIX/Llagas250Galu02b.jpg)
“Cleaned track” Cleaned with 9/0-320 silicon carbide finishing paper – a very fine grit that polishes instead of scrubs. Use that as the cleaning medium on your track cleaning car and you’ll be set. 
I would bet that the “oxidized” track would have funtioned just fine without any cleaning at all. Looks pretty good after 3 years.
I found that the steel wheels on my rolling stock kept my aluminum track pretty clean.
My problem was the expansion at my many joints. 1 foot sectional track and temperature extremes over 100 degrees F was not a good mix.
Ralph
Ralph, I was thinking of drilling holes in the web of the rail near the joints then wiring them together. I’m a glutton for punishment, so I’ll be hand laying it without stringers under the ties hoping the track will float in the ballast as the real stuff does. Any thoughts??
I float my track. Works great for me.
My track was already down. Rail clamps for each joint would have been quite expensive, and also a lot of work after the track was already down.
My track will “grow” by as much as 3 or 4 inches from one end to the other.
Are you planning to wire the joints together for an electrical connection or to physically keep the joints from spreading?
Ralph
Just to keep the joints together is my aim. By the time I get the track laid, all of my locos will be battery operated.
William,
My original railroad was laid on the ground in 1998 on a bed of compacted crusher fines.
The track was/is 6061T aluminum rail hand spiked to Redwood ties on Redwood sleeper strips
then filled with crusher fines as ballast. The joints were made with standard aluminum rail joiners
for alignment. Brass machine screws were tapped into the rail web at each joint and a jumper
wire soldered to the screw heads. Rail clamps were used at bridges and switches.
I ran track power for years with little or no conductivity troubles. The biggest problems I had was
sandy grit on the rails after every rain or after the sprinklers ran and I made the mistake of using SS spikes and they would work out of the wood because there was no rust to hold them in place. Cleaning was a snap, about twice a year I would run around the line with the sanding pole and polish the rail head a little.
The line was/is about 100 ft of track in a loop I had/have no temp related expansion problems with the track in and out of shady areas all day long and Summer temps as high as 110 degrees. Not saying it doesn’t expand just saying that the loop cut by a couple bridges doesn’t present an expansion problem.
The loop, less bridges, is still in the garden even though it hasn’t seen any traffic since about 2007 or so.
Just out of curiosity I went out yesterday after reading this thread and cleared the brush off about a 20 foot section clipped on a power pack and wiped the grit off the rails. The engine, a Shay, ran back and forth with very little stutter from bad conductivity.
I have read for years tales of the (Garden RR Urban Legend ) that aluminum rail can’t be used for track power; it’s too soft, it’s a poor conductor, corrosion problems in contact with other metals, etc, etc. I never found any of these issues to be true on my line. I do believe that environmental issues can cause problems with aluminum rail just like other aluminum products, for example, salt air, certain minerals in the soil, or minerals in the water system.
Just my observations.
Rick
Great insight Rick, thanks for the information!
Ralph Berg said:Could be Ralph, could be. I don't have any alu rail in the garden, the first batch of C215 was brass (Canadian source), the rest is/will be NickelSilver (US source). BTW since you float your track you could compensate that expansion factor by having more S-curves (with tangents in between) in the track instead of long straights. That works very well with Flex track, but having the correct gap when laying at the correct temperature will also help. ;) :)
I would bet that the "oxidized" track would have funtioned just fine without any cleaning at all. Looks pretty good after 3 years. I found that the steel wheels on my rolling stock kept my aluminum track pretty clean. My problem was the expansion at my many joints. 1 foot sectional track and temperature extremes over 100 degrees F was not a good mix. Ralph
The alu track I’m using on the layout is in the train barn where it will be out of direct sun and high heat. It is a great way to get 50 feet of brass track which I’ll use elsewhere!
- Aluminum is the second best conductor of electricity after copper.
- Oxides do not flake of like rust does, and do not conduct electricity.
- Brass joiners corrode because of electrolysis. The aluminum foil trick works great.
- Don’t use sandpaper on aluminum, it’ll scratch the rail. I use red scothbrite pad in a drywall sander and beneath a track cleaning car.
- If you are planning batteries, the stainless steel joiners supplied by Llagas Creek should work fine.
What is the trick using brass joiners? I’ll be using them on aluminum track in the next couple weeks. The track won’t be powered.