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I recently read a post talking about soldering to Atlas O track. A reply in that post stated that Atlas did at one time make track with steel rails. I think I have some. I started acquiring Atlas O track; first from eBay. My first purchase was some used 40" rigid straights. Now when I visually compare new track and NOS to these 40" pieces the rails do not look the same. Also, the ties are almost black instead of brown. After reading that post, I took a fridge magnet and tested the 2 types of track. the magnet does not appear to cling to my new track, but will actually stay on the track in question even when upside down. So, do I have steel track? I will almost certainly sell this track as symmetry is one of my OCDs.

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Jan posted:

Black ties = steel rails.

Brown ties = nickel silver rails.

Atlas made the steel railed track to support magnatraction locomotives, but it was never that popular.  They discontinued it several years ago.  Traction tires are the preferred method for increasing traction. 

Jan

Thanks Jan

I guess I will be selling these when I can find new stock. I like to be honest when I sell something, so I will highlight the differences. More than likely the guy I bought them from didn't know.

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