Atlas Track Incarnation

I seem to remember this when Atlas started up production of the track. they made it both ways. Nickel or steel, maybe for the magna traction folks.

The now discontinued stainless steel 21st-Century Atlas track had black ties.  I got a bunch of it new in the box at around $1 per 10" straight when I started building my layout with Nickel-Silver.  It's of an identical profile to the Nickel-Silver.  I use the stainless straights in areas of the layout out of sight so the mismatching ties are not visible.  One cautionary note: some of the early runs of the stainless steel track had very thick applications of black paint on the center rails - to the point of being electrically disruptive (flickering number boards and passenger lights as the train passes over a section of it).  It is easily remedied by a light sanding to remove some of the paint.

Fascinating!  I do not remember this historical fact.

The only steel track that Atlas produced in the modern era was not stainless, so far as I know - it was plain steel, which appealed to me and I intended to purchase it for my Next Layout.

Well, the Next Layout never happened, the Atlas steel track went away too quickly for me to use it, and that was  the end of that for me. I like my GG/Ross/Curtis non-stainless steel track, anyway.

There are varieties of stainless steel; some are magnetic, some are not. "Regular" steel is magnetic, of course. Your steel track will rust (also realistic), but will not demonstrate the odd surface problems that nickel silver can hand you. A friend has Atlas N-S, and my GG is more electrically "stable".

Steel is good: predictable, durable and tough. I was going to let my Atlas steel rust naturally ("it looks just like real rust!") outside (not the switch solenoids), lay it, then clean off the railheads. (Yes, I would have taken care of the rail connector areas.)

D500 posted:

The only steel track that Atlas produced in the modern era was not stainless, so far as I know - it was plain steel, which appealed to me and I intended to purchase it for my Next Layout.

 

You may be right, upon inspection, the boxes are marked "solid steel" without reference to "stainless".  I thought I read somewhere on here when researching the issue relating to the heavily painted center rails that the Atlas steel track could be used outside without rusting.  Maybe that, too, is wrong.  Either way, I think you are correct in that it wasn't stainless steel.