Nickel tracks
All THIEL-GLEIS tracks, points and switches are also available in nickel plated brass.
Purpose of Nickel tracks
A characteristic of brass is that the tracks will get darker over the years in an outdoor environment. Whilst this might be have a desired effect on the sides of the tracks, it is a problem for the tread. A tread should be bare.
Oxidation on the surface will reduce the conductivity between the wheels of the trains and the tracks. As a result, the tread has to be sanded after a certain time of operational inactivity. For big garden railway systems as well as in places that can only be reached difficulty, this implies a significant effort. An unplanned, last-minute use of the system after a longer break is nearly impossible!
For this reason, we decided 30 years ago to nickel plate the tracks! This decision has been validated over the years!
Advantages
- authentic, mat silver finish on the tread ( the slight gloss of nickel will vanish within a short period of time)
- solderable with common silver solder
- continuous conductivity of brass
- less deposit of dirt on the hard, smooth, non-porous surface. As a consequence, wear and tear of train wheels is reduced compared to rough materials.
- Easy cleaning – just wipe with a damp cloth
- Galvanically same potential train wheel and track
- Cheaper than alternatives
- Existing brass tracks can be nickel plated at a later stage.
Curved fixed tracks
Nowadays, train models become longer and more and more proportional to real scale. However, this requires bigger radiuses. This is not a problem with THIEL-GLEIS.
THIEL-GLEIS tracks allow you to mate your express train carriage as close to real life as possible. Big buffer distances between the carriages looks like children’s toys ….
Flexible kits / single profiles
- cheaper than fixed tracks
- fewer rail joints – less loss of electricity
- faster installation (fewer, soldering flow bridges)
- free design of radius
- tracks are adjusted to site constraints, not vice versa
- any required length (junction) can be produced
