Anybody out there in railroad land know anything about the quality of Cargraves stainless steel track??? Does it hold up outside? Seeking opinions of people who have used the above outdoors!! The Regal
First off, it’s “GARGRAVES”…
We tried it way back when it was only available with baswood ties. Even after trying every type of wood preservative, the ties rotted within a year.
They then seemed to produce it with plastic ties, but the rail was still a bit crude. It is basicly a low grade stainless steel sheet stock, formeed into rail by bending it into a hollow rail, sumewhat like the old Lionel rail, but not as strong. It can be bent, but it takes a while to master the bending. The rail is inserted into groves in the ties and it is not a great success for outdoors.
The method of joining the rails is with pins as you do it with Lionel rail. Their pins are not as robust as the old Lionel ones.
It is not easy to join the Gargraves rail to solid rail switches. It can be done, but it is not worth it.
Gargraves did at one time advertise switches, but they are rather crude and resemble the old tinplate ones…
I suggest that you avoid Gargraves track, even if you think it is a less expensive alternative. You only get what you pay for.
Well a different take on Gargraves track.
I use the flex track but only with the stainless steel rail. They did for a short period of time use the plastic ties but their mould wore out and since their goofy gauge was not in too much in demand, their decided to go back to wood ties. I find the wood ties are fine but I do put wood preservative on them. Now I have a table top layout so if you are going on the ground, your story will be different as most wood directly on or in the dirt will rot sooner or later…
I know of a store on the east coast that discounts Gargraves products 20%…If anyone is interested?
My version and I’m sticking to it !!!
The old fardt in Oregun