Anyone use this stuff? What's it like to solder to? Do you have to clean it first? How bout the rail top - does the weathering conduct electricity or do you have to clean it first? Just wondering - with any luck I'll be laying track in a few weeks and want to know if I should be buying the pre-weathered or regular stock.
Well, we use it exclusively, and that is a lot of rail! We solder to the bottom, just clean a small section with a file and no problem. After you lay the track, you have to run a bright boy over the top to clean the heads. Electricity will not conduct through the paint sufficiently to run locomotives. Besides, it is always the railheads which are shiny, and the rest that is weathered.
I use it exclusively. The weathering does not conduct electricity very well and you can't solder to it. You will need to remove the weathering at rail joints and to attach electrical feeds.