Nicklei Silver or Steel track

[Flyboy70]

Can I combine Nickel Silver and Steel Track on the same layout

[Bucksco]

Yes.

[RAM]

After you combine the two, you will find out haw much better the NS is.

[trainmainbrian]

Personally I would not Mix Tracks I would select a track you like the best & stick with it....

[guslcp]

Sell the steel and use all NS...

Gus

[richardl]

Can I combine Nickel Silver and Steel Track on the same layout

If it is a financial issue and you are running DC, do it. Might not be so good with DCC. DCC does not like electrical interruptions.
The steel might need a little more cleaning depending on the atmosphere of the train room. Unprotected steel can corrode faster than NS.
Some use a very thin coating CRC2-26 or Wahl clipper oil on the track, Clean the track first with a hard rubber eraser first. Make sure to vacuum up after. I had a small modified vacuum to do this.
I use to do that many years ago with CRC2-26.
Cleaning track is a whole other discussion with many examples and opinions.

Rich

[JRG1951]

FlyBoy,
Make sure the CRC is CRC2-26. Many of the CRC formulas will attack plastic and damage your track.
Regards, John

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. <> Thomas Paine

[guslcp]

I use Radio Shack "Cleaner and Lubricant" spray to clean my track.  I spray a little on a piece of cork and go to it.  Using this process I don't need to clean track only every 3 months +/-...

Gus

[wiley209]

I remember Robert Schleicher's book "The HO Model Railroading Handbook - 3rd Edition" saying there is no need to discard the steel E-Z Track that came with your set, and that it could be combined with the nickel-silver track.
It also depends on how your layout will be run. If you're going to use DCC, you would definitely want to stick with nickel-silver, as that's more ideal for DCC than steel (this is probably why Bachmann's DCC train sets come with nickel-silver track.)
Of course I'm a nickel-silver kind of guy, and though I don't use E-Z Track on my layout, most of it is Atlas Code 100 nickel-silver, and it's very efficient (I do have a couple of TYCO crossings that use steel track; I just need to clean them a little more than the rest of the track, and it seems to perform just as well.) I even replaced the brass track section on my old TYCO crossing gate with a nickel-silver section, as they used to use removable track, like Bachmann's old crossing gates did (though installing an Atlas Code 100 track section on the old Bachmann crossing gate can be tricky; you'd be better off using the new Bachmann crossing gate, as the box says it can be used with other track brands, albeit with a bit of modification.)

[jonathan]

When I first laid track on my layout, I mixed everything... Didn't matter the brand or make up.  I admit I eventually removed the steel track. I found the trains slowed down as the locos went over the steel. The brass track is no problem. My two cents are now spent.

Regards,

Jonathan

[jward]

my advice would be to use whatever steel track you have on hand, but only purchase nickel silver track when you need more. if possible, restrict the steel track to sidings and yard tracks where the locomotives won't run on it much. steel track has conductivity issues that will play havoc with dcc trains, that it won't have with dc. that is not to say it is ideal for dc, but bad conductivity on a dcc layout with corrupt the commands sent to your locomotives, and in some cases can cause a loss of control over your train. a dcc locomotive receiving power from the track but corrupted commands will continue running on the last command the decoder understood until it gets an uncorrupted command telling it otherwise. in concept this is similar to a cell phone in an area with spotty service. your call may still be connected but the audio is garbled and unintelligible.

that said, I am looking forward to the ez app line of Bluetooth controlled trains coming out later this summer. removing the decoder signal from the rails should lessen the conductivity issues, making the choice or rail less of an issue.